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From regional tastes to plant-based alternatives, the year ahead will focus on flexible eating styles.

That’s the word from Cincinnati-based Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), which on Tuesday announced its top food trend predictions for 2019, determined by its team of new product developers, chefs and innovators.

Here are the top five trends to expect in 2019, according to Kroger, the nation’s largest operator of traditional supermarkets:

Regional flavors: Consumers will see a growing number of products…

All-day breakfast concept Pancake Social is planned for Pinewood Forest, a 234-acre mixed-use project rising next to 18 sound stages in Fayetteville, Ga.

Rob Parker, president of Pinewood Development, on Tuesday gave an update on the project during ICSC Southeast Conference and Deal Making conference in Atlanta, revealing the latest tenant.

James Beard award-winning chef Anne Quatrano, of Bacchanalia and Star Provisions, is behind Pancake Social, along with Octane Coffee co-founder Tony Riffel,…

Tintera Properties has acquired the property at 4102 Shaw Blvd., which will be occupied by Pickup Coffee Co.

Welcome to Tuesday, loyal readers. Here's what you need to know today.

Good news, beer fans

I have updates on two notable beer businesses. In August, I told you the team behind SacYard Community Tap House in East Sacramento was planning a new venue in Auburn. That business, called Auburn Community Tap House and Bottle Shop, is now open at 1850 Grass Valley Highway. Learn more on its Facebook page.

Also, Highway 50 Brewery will open this weekend at 3544 Carson Road, Suite 20, in Camino, according…

Bantam Bagels, which began in a Brooklyn apartment with just a small amount of seed funding and expanded to a 500-square-foot shop in Manhattan's West Village in 2013, has been scooped up by Lancaster Colony Corp. for $34 million.

The price tag is just the latest in a series of successes for Bantam, starting with an appearance on CNBC's “Shark Tank” in 2014. See video below:

At the time, the husband-and-wife team of Nick and Elyse Oleksak scored financial backing of $275,000 for a 25 percent…

A portion of the former Louise’s restaurant near Cathedral Square Park has a new tenant.

This Is It, the bar adjacent to Louise’s location at 801 N. Jefferson St., in downtown Milwaukee, plans to expand into part of the former dining spot’s footprint. Robert Schmidt Jr. closed his popular restaurant at the end of August after opting not to renew the lease.

The closure presented This Is It, 418 E. Wells St., the opportunity to double in size. George Schneider, who co-owns the bar with…

Nike's Jordan brand on Saturday will open a Los Angeles store that gives the fullest picture yet of its emerging bricks-and-mortar strategy.

At a time when consumers are increasingly shopping online, the 25,000-square-foot store, at 620 South Broadway, is designed to get tourists, athletes, high school students and VIPs through the door. Nike is billing the store as a “brand experience,” similar to a SoHo store which Nike considers the “sharpest point” of its retail efforts.

The store features…

The Denver-based chain is is trying to keep up with changing demands.

Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Minneapolis, which a year ago put the brakes on delivering food via third-party vendors, has brought back the service with an in-house offering that owners hope will be more palatable to the restaurant's bottom line.

The new program, called “Hell on Wheels,” is built around a few catering carts that that make lunchtime deliveries to downtown Minneapolis office buildings.

Hell's Kitchen has offered delivery before, through Minneapolis-based Bite Squad, which generated…