The Spread.

Lakewood Gets a Buzzbrews and Funnel Cake Ale Comes to Community.

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

As time draws closer to the official opening of Kitchen LTO version 4.0, we've finally been given a peek at what executive chef Blythe Beck has in store. Highlights from the upscale southern menu include: Texas redfish made with gumbo file rice; Andouille sausage; shrimp and tomato sauce; bacon cheddar meatloaf; and a take on shrimp and grits made with jalapeño bacon cheddar grits and cayenne butter.

And with only a 24-hour turn-around before Beck's first dinner service in the Trinity Groves hotspot, Kitchen LTO is learning to perfect the rotating restaurant concept in its second year of business.

“There is already a renewed energy in the kitchen with Blythe having been here testing her menu items,” Kitchen LTO creator Casie Caldwell writes in a press release. “Her pink positivity has been a welcome influence with our staff and our guests. We're kicking off year two with a bang, and I'm so excited for Dallas to, once again, experience Blythe's food and let us at LTO take care of them.”

The restaurant will be closed today and will reopen for dinner service at 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 2. Lunch service begins the following day, and brunch will be served on Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, we've got some good news for meat lovers: Tickets for Meat Fight 2014 go on sale today at 10 a.m. Tickets to last year's event sold out in just six minutes, though, so, depending on when you read this, they might be long gone. Regardless, the event pits 16 of the city's best chefs and meat-smokers in four categories — brisket, pulled pork, sausage and “wild card” — in the name of benefiting the National MS Society. The festivities take place Sunday, November 16, in Trinity Groves, for those lucky enough to nab tickets.

Over in Uptown, Dee Lincoln's Bubble Bar is transitioning from a restaurant-lounge to a full-time special events venue, according to a statement released by Dee Lincoln reps. The changes taking place are meant to highlight the space's propensity to be used for private parties anyway.

“It made sense to turn it into a private event venue only, rather than try to continue regular dinner and bar service during the high demand for buy-outs,” says Lincoln in the press release.

The bi-level venue can hold as many as 150 guests for seated events and 200 to 250 people for standing events. In addition to private events, off-site catering will be available due to a growing demand for it with all of Lincoln's concepts. Bubble Bar's changes go into effect on Wednesday, October 15.

Also in Uptown, The Rustic is debuting Braille menus this week. First use of the menus goes to the Dinner Winners — a social dining group for the blind and visually impaired — on Friday, October 3, during a dinner and concert by Doug Strahan & The Good Neighbors. The restaurant/bar/music venue now features 10 24-page-long Braille menus, allowing blind and visually impaired guests to select dishes without assistance.

Staying in Uptown, Yum Brands' Banh Shop test restaurant debuted an infinitely less-offensive new logo, making good on its promise to replace the insensitive original. The Taco Bell parent company — the conglomerate behind the new banh mi destination — changed the logo to a simple black-and-white design this week and apologized to the Vietnamese community after members petitioned for the old logo to be changed.

Over in East Dallas, all-night breakfast favorite Buzzbrews Kitchen is adding a new location to its repertoire, taking over the old Mecca spot in the Skillman-Live Oak Shopping Center. The lease to the space was signed this past Friday, after Buzzbrews officials had been scouting for a new location since March. The new Lakewood location is projected to open in 2015, with renovations beginning as early as next week.

Moving on, hipsters and grilled cheese fanatics alike can look forward to the opening of Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. in Bishop Arts. The bread and cheese concept opening on West Seventh will have offerings ranging from simple American cheese on Texas toast to more complex pairings like brie with pears and walnuts on French baguettes. The space is still under construction and awaiting permits, but could open by the end of this year.

In coffee news: Houndstooth will be holding a brewing class on Wednesday, October 8, at 7:30 p.m. The class will focus on teaching people to use the Kalita Wave — a hand-pour-over method — like a pro. Tickets can be purchased at the Henderson Avenue location or online. Elsewhere — and following the closing of its Henderson Avenue store — the Pearl Cup has announced that it's also shutting down its St. Paul Place location, leaving behind a location in Richardson, another at the Winspear and possibly still a spot in the Sylvan Thirty development.

It's not all bad on the drinks front, though. For instance: If you aren't able to make it to this year's State Fair to try the 2014 Big Tex Choice Award-winning Funnel Cake Ale, here's your chance to try the brew with a special tapping tonight at Community Beer Company during its regular Wednesday open house and tour from 5 to 8 p.m. Discounted tickets can be purchased in advance for $8. Otherwise, it's $10 at the door for three samples of Community brews.

And, finally, area cocktails have taken a more decadent turn of late, with some area bars beginning to try the “fat-washing” technique that infuses fatty liquids with spirits. Places like Knife at Hotel Palomar are making olive oil-washed gin martinis among a host of other fatty, yet fancy, cocktails.

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