If you were anywhere near Trinity Groves on November 15, you probably caught a whiff of meat being prepared for Meat Fight, the annual food-driven fundraiser benefiting the National MS Society. Four teams of chefs competed for bragging rights to best brisket, sausage, beef belly, or pork loin, but the protein parade is only part of the fun at this charitable event unlike any other in Dallas.
Founded by Dallas Observer contributor Alice Laussade in her backyard in 2010, it has grown exponentially over the last few years, and this year's total exceeded them all. At least $150,000 was raised (they are still counting the money) for the NMSS and Meat Fight's Meat Bike program, which gifts bikes to people with MS.
The live auction, which is integral to the fundraiser, also provided the most excitement of the evening. Among the items up for grabs were a smoker built by barbecue god Aaron Franklin, a chance to go on a barbecue tour with BBQ Snob and Texas Monthly barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn, and a ladies night out with Laussade and D Magazine's Nancy Nichols that includes destinations like Tallywackers and The Lodge strip club. That last package topped out at $6,900, while Franklin's smoker went for $8,250.
Auctioneers Jack Perkins and Matt Hamilton did their parts to work up their crowd and drive up the bids.
But back to the meat, which 16 local chefs — including Eric Dreyer, Chad Houser, Brian Zenner, David Uygur, Danyele McPherson, and Omar Flores — slaved over to feed hundreds of hungry foodies. The winners are as follows:
- Brisket: Andrew Dilda, Fearsome Fourcemeat
- Sausage: Janice Provost,Notorious PIG
- Beef Belly: Patton Robertson, Qu Tang
- Pork Loin: Jeff Bekavac, Fearsome Fourcemeat
- People's Choice: Fearsome Fourcemeat
- Best Team Trophy (for winning most trophies): Fearsome Fourcemeat
Also available for mass consumption were Four Corners beer, WhiskeyPig whiskey, Noble Coyote coffee, pork churros from Dude Sweet Chocolate, Hypnotic Donuts bacon doughnuts, smoked salmon from TJ's Seafood, Pop Star popsicles, sides from Garden Cafe, and Swiss Pastry Shop pastries.
To work off the food comas, attendees played games on the Meat Midway, took photos with Santa, and got their portraits drawn by a caricature artist.
Alice Laussade and Nancy Nichols together raised $6,900 for their live auction package.
