Award-winning Craft Brewer Sold to Anheuser-Busch; Southern-focused Muscadine Now Open

BEER NEWS -- Craft brewer 10 Barrel Brewing, based in Bend, Ore., has been on a major upswing: They won big-time at the Great American Beer Festival last month, and  on Monday announced Issaquah-native Whitney Burnside, who brewed at Elysian, would be the new head brewer of their Pearl District brewpub, which is opening this winter. But then they broke the internet and a lot of beer-lover's hearts when they announced on Wednesday that they sold the company to Anheuser-Busch.

NORTHEAST -- Southern-focused breakfast and lunch spot Muscadine opened in what's now become a mini gourmet ghetto on NE Prescott, near Pok Pok Noi. Though the chef/owner formerly helmed pancake-palace Slappycakes, there's no syrupy stuff here, just Southern classics like crispy fried chicken, pulled pork with Carolina Gold barbecue sauce, and fluffy biscuits made from White Lily flour.

ALAMEDA/BEAUMONT -- Portland's obsession with wood-fired pizza continues with the build-out of Fire and Stone restaurant, but the powerhouse trio behind this one is creating a lot of buzz. Owner/baker Jeff Smalley has worked the ovens at some of the city's best bakeries, including Grand Central Bakery, and chef Joey Alvarez, an alum of Ken's Artisan Pizza, will oversee the kitchen. Running the front of the house is Alvarez's partner, Juliana Santos, formerly the general manager at Little Bird Bistro.