The Spread.

Deep Ellum Brewing Co Gets A New Brewmaster And Luna's Tortilla Factory Goes Up In Smoke.

Welcome to The Spread, our new weekly feature that aims to share all the area restaurant, food and beverage industry news that's fit to print. Except that this is the Internet, so space isn't a concern. Also: Good things, because this is Dallas and this town always has breaking restaurant news going down like whoa.

There is no debating that summer has, in fact, arrived. Temperatures are steadily rising to triple digits and we are left with lofty electricity bills or scrambling to find the nearest body of water to jump into.

But there is a silver lining hidden behind all that excess heat: an influx of beer festivals and crawfish boils are just around the corner. That should help keep your minds off summer woes.

To that end, the folks over at Earthwise Gardens, a Denton-based organic farm and market, are putting together what they call Mudbugs and Microbrews:An all-Texas Crawfish Boil this Sunday. The whole thing kicks off around 4 p.m. with a tour of the garden, to which interested parties can BYOB, followed by dinner at 5:30 p.m. with locally grown potatoes, corn, tomatoes and peaches, and topped off with a free homebrew tasting provided by the Denton County Homebrewers Guild. At just $25 for the whole shebang, it sure sounds like a steal, but reservations are required and limited.

Not to be outdone, former Top Chef contestant and current head chef at Azure, Tiffany Derry, is hosting an endless crawfish and sides boil out in Addison this Saturday.

Speaking of reality TV stars, Chef Gordon Ramsay will be searching for some of Dallas' best aspiring chefs to compete in the latest season of Hell's Kitchen this Sunday from 10a.m. to 5 p.m. out at Toby Keith's I Love this Bar and Grill. Does anyone else see the irony in this? Those willing to risk being screamed at in a British accent for a few months on national TV will need to bring their culinary resumes and must have their application — which you can find here — pre-approved to be considered. There's been no word yet on if Ramsay himself will be on hand to personally interview the reality TV hopefuls, but we do know that no cooking will be required at the audition. Pro tip: you can also sign up for Ramsay's restaurant saving TV show Kitchen Nightmares, if you're into that sort of thing.

While some are looking to kick start a new culinary career, others are struggling just to save theirs; The Dallas Morning News reported yesterday that beloved Luna's Tortilla Factory had suffered a two-alarm fire that completely destroyed the nearly 90-year-old Dallas staple. According to the report, the blaze was linked to a faulty neon sign that triggered a fire, which quickly spread to the attic. Fortunately, no one was injured during the incident. The owners have promised to rebuild, but for now you'll have to hit up their other well-known spot Restaurante Luna's the next time you're jonesing for their famous tortillas.

Likewise, the owners of Frankie's Sports Bar and Grill has officially shut their doors for good in their Uptown location after failing to renegotiating their lease agreement with the landlords. Don't worry, Frankie's customers loyal enough to trek across town can still get their Yokozuna fix at the chain's other two locations located out in Lewisville and Fort Worth.

But it's not all doom and gloom in the restaurant world this week; The long list of new restaurant openings are something of a bright spot. To that end, Glazed Donut Works a Deep Ellum Donut Shop is set to open in the next few weeks; Fourteen Eighteen Coffeehouse will open up out in Plano; Taco Naan (whose name says it all) just opened in Coppell; Le Bilboquet Dallas, a New York export specializing in French cuisine, is opened in Dallas; City View Tacos, is now slanging tacos in from its West Dallas-based food truck; Katy Trail Ice House has expanded to Plano; Capriotti's Sandwich Shop's newest Luther Lane location opens this month; PakPao Thai Food will open its doors in Oak Lawn on Friday; and Waldron Lodge, a new spot out in the Bishop Arts District is currently serving bison, boar, elk and rabbit for your wild game desires.

Or, if wild game isn't necessarily your cup of tea, stop by the recently opened WORK in Deep Ellum with their insane-looking BBQ line up. We find it's a good alternative for those who don't have the time and/or patience to wait in the line at Pecan Lodge.

And speaking of that neighborhood, the Deep Ellum Brewing Company just announced the former Dogfish Head head brewer Jeremy Hunt as their new brewmaster. DEBC also welcomes Jason Herrington from Cedar Creek Brewing Company and David Hauptman of Climax Brewing Company to their newly-expanded brew team.

Staying in the beer world, Martin House Brewing Company is now making it easy for you to grab one of their delicious craft brews. The folks over at Martin House just announced that they will be selling their popular Day Break and Imperial Texans brews in 16-ounce cans at Central Market. They also hope to add their River House Saison and There Will Be Stout in the near future. Martin house is celebrating this achievement with a can launch party tomorrow at Central Market with live music, snacks and, of course, beer.

Or, better yet, find out what's new with all the breweries in town at once by scoring some tickets to this Saturday's Best Little Brewfest in Texas event.

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