Tickle Your Tastebuds: Launch set for new Start Line, Strong Side collaboration beer

Hopkinton's Start Line Brewing will release a new collaboration beer brewed with Strong Side Brewing on Thursday.

The launch party will be held from 4-9 p.m. at the brewery, 151R Hayden Rowe St., and will feature live music from Tony Lee Thomas as well as giveaways.

The new beer will be a double India pale ale brewed with Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra and Centennial hops.

Strong Side Brewing is a new company that brews its beers under contract at Start Line Brewing. We'll be writing more about them soon.

Start Line is about a mile from the start of the Boston Marathon, hence the name.

More: Still hoppin': Local brewery celebrates five years in business

Alltown Fresh to open in Hopkinton

A fresh convenience market serving healthy, to-go meals and snacks for commuters is opening its second store in MetroWest.

Alltown Fresh, a handcrafted kitchen, market and gas station, is building its newest location on West Main Street in Hopkinton. It plans to open there late this summer, said Martha Sullivan, a spokesperson for the company.

The new store is under construction and is expected to be slightly larger than 3,000 square feet.

A Mobil gas station on the 40,100-square-foot property at 92 West Main St. was demolished late last year to construct the new Alltown Fresh building, which will include a coffee shop, according to plans submitted to the town.

The building is being constructed on a new parcel created by combining four parcels: 84, 86, 88 and 92 West Main St. Together, they comprise 73,122 square feet. An existing dwelling at 86 West St. was also knocked down.

The store offers fresh and healthy, made-to-order breakfast, sandwiches, salads and bowls, along with meal kits to-go and a range of artisanal products made by small businesses across the state and country.

This will be Alltown Fresh's fourth location in Middlesex County; its others are in Marlborough (which opened last summer), Ayer and Waltham.

More: Fresh-focused convenience store opens in Marlborough

Alltown Fresh, owned by Waltham-based Global Partners, LP, opened its first location three years ago in Plymouth, and now there are nine spread across Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.

Bertucci’s teams with TV chef Christian Petroni

Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza & Pasta, based in Northborough, is partnering with celebrity chef Christian Petroni, with the addition of his signature Italian cuisine to the Bertucci’s menu.

Petroni, the winner of the 14th season of "Food Network Star," grew up in an Italian family in the Bronx. His family hails from the Naples region in Italy, and he spent hours in the kitchen alongside his mother and grandmother learning to make traditional Italian dishes.

Petroni opened the first of five successful restaurants, called Fortina, in 2013, and was at the helm of the Fortina Restaurant Group until 2020.

Since leaving Fortina, he has appeared on The Food Network as a recurring judge on "Chopped," "Guy’s Grocery Games" and on "Guy’s Chance of a Lifetime."

Bertucci's, which has 52 locations along the East Coast, has new limited Chef Petroni specials including: A "dip trio" with pepperoni vodka spread, whipped feta with black pepper and roasted tomato jam served with toasted focaccia; Rigatoni Alla Vodka with Crispy Pepperoni, which is rigatoni tossed in spicy tomato cream sauce topped with crispy pepperoni, Pecorino Romano, fresh basil and seasoned breadcrumbs; and a Artisan Hand Stretched Prosciutto & Caramelized Onion Pizza, among several other special items created by Petroni.

To view the full menu, find the Bertucci’s location nearest you, and for all additional information, visit www.Bertuccis.com.

More: Where to eat? Here are 21 new restaurants and food shops you must try around Interstate 495

Lauren Young and Norman Miller contributed to this report.

Got a tip about food or restaurant news? Email Nancy Olesin at nolesin@wickedlocal.com.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Beer collaboration by Start Line and Strong Side breweries