The American cult culinary TV series, ‘Man V Food’, has fast become a worldwide cultural touchstone, but how did local contestants cope with the mammoth meat feat dished up by the Dysarts Arms in Mossley?!?
On the evening of Tuesday the 3rd July, gastro belts were loosened, stretched, and eventually engulfed as Gavin Green and Amy Waddington, tenants of the Dysarts Arms in Mossley, served up a “challenge” of mammoth proportions for thirteen allegedly insatiable men.
Inspired by sky channels Quest and Dave, which stream the original ‘Man V Food’ series across from the US, the premise was disarmingly simple: eat everything in sight!
Each of the stalwart contenders had 60 minutes in which to consume an offensively huge dish; sporting a gargantuan 2½lb burger the size of a sofa cushion topped with bacon, cheese, home-made chilli, extra bacon, and nachos with a side order of hand cut chips (cooked in lard of course).
Needless to say … they came, they saw, they were conquered!! Not a single man was left standing out of the thirteen (unlucky) pretenders. Food had the last laugh as these defeated men were served up a divine final course of instant, unexpected pregnancy … AKA … the food baby from hell!
Ballooned bellies aside, this was a truly fantastic event which brought the entire community out of their homes and into the Dysarts Arms. Everyone chipped in: locals collected glasses and helped out behind the bar, Jessica Massey, a budding photographer of just 14 years of took pictures, and Robinsons Business Development Manager, Tony Massey, helped keep the food coming from the kitchen.
Even celebrity chef Simon Rimmer put his wooden spoon aside for a front row seat at this gastronomic marathon. Simon, along with Robinsons Catering Development Manager Christian Whittleworth were on hand to egg on the contestants, excite the crowds, and endorse the Willow Wood Hospice, a local purpose built Hospice providing specialist Palliative Care to those suffering with life-threatening illnesses.
After an impressive raffle of wine, ‘win your weight in beer’, and a meal for two at Simon Rimmer’s Greens restaurant (unsurprisingly no one fancied the À la carte option), the Dysarts Arms Man Vs Food event raised £371 for their local hospice, Willow Wood.
The US series of ‘Man V Food’ may be no more, but perhaps a revival of this excessive extravaganza may be on the cards for the Dysarts Arms in the voracious village of Mossley.
END
Picture 1: Monster Burger
Picture 2: Man Vs Food, Round 1
Editor’s Notes:
January 2012 – Adam Richman, producer and presenter of the original Man V Food series announced his retirement from the show in a single Facebook post.
Dysart Arms Man Vs Food Contestants: Keith, Matt, Gary, Martin, Jon, Graham, Darren, Michael, Wilco, Rob, Ashley, Shane, and Paul.
Money raised was completely donated to local hospice http://www.willowwood.info/about.html
All Robinsons pr enquiries should be directed to Carmen Byrne on 07814 394965 or email Carmen.Byrne@frederic-robinson.co.uk