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Lost Province Brewing Company is All in the Family; Offers Fresh Brewed Beer and Wood Fired Pizzas

by Madison Fisler Lewis

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Andy and Lynn Mason open the doors of the brew-pub to the public this week

Aug. 8, 2014. Judging by the number of tables that were still packed hours past the lunch rush, it looks like the High Country is as excited about the opening of Lost Province Brewing Company and Pub as its owners are.

Lost Province, located at 130 N. Depot St. right behind the Mast General Store, started serving up yummy pizzas and beer to excited patrons this week. With some soft openings earlier in the week behind them, the team at the new downtown “brew-pub” was excited to open the doors to the public today.

“We’ve had a great start so far!” said Lynne Mason, CEO of Lost Province Brewing Company. “We have had fun with it from day one, and it is just so exciting to be open.”

The new venue offers delicious wood fired pizzas with options like the “White Buffalo” which includes ricotta, buffalo chicken, blue cheese and celery. For those with a sweet tooth, try the “Nutella Elvis” pizza, which boasts slab bacon, Nutella, banana, Ashe County cheddar cheese and jalapeno honey.

“It is all wood fired, Neopolitan style pizza, so it has a thin crust, and we have been all about local from the get-go,” said Mason. “We use local meats, cheeses and produce. We are transitioning to be as sustainable as we can.”

Aside from pizza, Lost Province also offers soups, locally sourced salads, antipasto, desserts, and, oh yeah, beer!

“The first batch of beer will be released next Wednesday,” Mason said. “The rest will be released over the next ten days.”

Beers are brewed right on site behind the restaurant in the brewery side, and current concoctions include a stout, an ESP, an IPA, a cream ale and a Belgian double.

“In the meantime, we have guest beers,” Mason said.

It all started in March 2013 when Lynne Mason and her husband, Andy, decided to leave their successful careers and follow their dreams.

“Andy has been brewing beer for more than 20 years,” Mason said. “My husband and I retired from our careers in toxicology and social work and we decided to do this with the help from our family.”

And Lost Province has become quite a family affair.

“We have all become a great team,” Mason said. “My brother-in-law David Mason is our executive chef who turned us on to the wood fire pizza concept. Our daughter Carolyn is assisting with the front of the house. It has been very fun so far.”

The Mason’s son, JP, acts as the kitchen manager.

And the family concept to the Lost Province has extended past immediate family into the rest of the staff.

“We have built our business model around the team concept,” Mason said. “It has been amazing to watch our staff really come together. The premise of all of it is that we want to be working as a family so we try to foster this idea of everyone working together as a team. Everyone pitches in to make it work and it has been a lot of fun since day one.”

The feel of Lost Province is very friendly despite it being a brewery.

“We are very family friendly,” Mason said. “There really is something for everyone here. We want everyone from students to locals and tourists to feel like they have a place here. In the future, we want to be a place where the community can come for events. We want to host a variety of live events that we will announce later, like live music on Friday nights and date nights. This is going to be a very community oriented place and we like that.”

Currently, Lost Province is open Wednesday through Sunday, open at 11 a.m. each day. On Fridays and Saturdays, Lost Province is open until 11 p.m., and on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays it is open until 10 p.m.

For more information about Lost Province Brewing Company, visit www.LostProvince.com.

Photos by Ken Ketchie

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Brewing operations are well underway
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The front gives a bright, colorful view of the downtown area
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The pizzas are fired in a special wood-fired oven to give them the distinct taste
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Churning out pizzas
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Ingredients go in an a tasty pie comes out
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Even hours after lunchtime the bar and restaurant still had full tables
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Additional seating is available in the upstairs balcony
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Even hours after the lunch rush is over there are still plenty of full tables