Via Trib in Portland; New American Gastropub Interurban

PORTLAND: If you're heading south for the weekend, the Rose City has seen a flurry of new restaurant openings, with cuisines ranging from the barbequed (Smokehouse 21) to the paleo-friendly (Dick's Kitchen), from Southeast Asian (PaaDee) to New American gastropub (Interurban). Oh, and there's also the strikingly familiar—Via Tribunali has finally debuted its first outpost outside Seattle after taking like 10,000 years to build out in PDX's Old Town 'hood. [-EPDX-]

KENT: The powers-that-be at Starbucks announced earlier this week that it will move Tazo Tea's manufacturing operations from Portland up I-5 to Kent, Washington. The Tazo brand, which was founded by Portland local Steven Smith in the mid-'90s, was purchased by the coffee giant in 1999. According to the Oregonian, "Starbucks expects to begin the move in April and finish the following November." [OregonLive, EPDX]

[Photo: Eater Portland]