Denton County mayors to compete in annual charity pizza cook-off

Denton County mayors are vying for the best pizza creation in the county, while raising money for charities, during the third annual Denton County Mayoral Pizza Cook-off set for Wednesday, August 28.

Each participating mayor will be given a Detroit-style pizza dough, and the mayors’ job is to create a pizza that ‘wows’ the judges with the toppings, cheeses and sauces of their choice.

“I am very excited that we have been able to grow this event the way that we have,” said Motor City Pizza owner Greg Tierney. “It really is a great time. The mayors all seem to get into it, and they get very competitive. It really is a fun spirited competition.”

Last year’s event raised close to $20,000 for local non-profits with Lake Dallas mayor Andi Nolan winning the grand prize. Mayor Nolan’s winning pizza was “The Fig and The Pig,” which consisted of smoky center cut bacon, caramelized balsamic onions, creamy alfredo sauce, honey fig drizzle, dried fig slices and seasoned croutons.

Judging is based on four categories — appearance, execution, taste/texture and creativity/overall product. Each category will be judged with a score from 1 to 10, so the maximum score per judge will be 40 points.

The assembled group of judges thus far includes Sarah Blaskovich, lead food writer for the Dallas Morning News; Brian Reinhart, Food Critic for D Magazine; Nick Reynolds, food writer for the Dallas Observer; Caroline Vandergriff, reporter for CBS 11; and Jay Marks, realtor and founder of Foodie Friday.

Judging will take place at 5:30 p.m. on August 28 at the event center next door to Motor City Pizza, 1425 FM 407 in Lewisville, and judges will not know which pizza belongs to which mayor.

Mayors from the following cities are signed up to participate in the pizza cook-off: Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village, Denton, Corinth, Lake Dallas, Hickory Creek and Shady Shores.

Before the event, mayors from each city have selected a charity to compete for, and the score for fundraising will be 1% of the money raised, with a maximum of 40 points. For example, if a mayor raises $4,000 for a charity, a 40 point score from the fundraising will be added to the judges’ scores.

Tickets to the event are $25 and allow attendees to sample each mayor’s pizza and a beverage, with the majority of ticket sales going to the chosen mayor’s charity. Tickets can be purchased at MotorCityPizzaTX.com.