Mustache seesaws and vodka ice cream: Bar squads vie for ultimate crown at 8th annual benefit in Deep Ellum – The Dallas Morning News

Mustache seesaws. Vodka ice cream. A magical wall through which seemingly disembodied hands offer cocktails for the taking. It might sound like something out of an Alice in Wonderland fantasyland, but that's what you'll find on the evening of Sunday, Oct. 13, at Deep Ellum's Harlowe MXM and its adjoining sister bar, Trick Pony.

The event is the 8thannual Ultimate Cocktail Experience, which in its previous seven years has raised nearly $1 million total for Dallas-based Trigger's Toys, a non-profit organization aiding hospitalized kids and their families.

"It's one of those days when everybody comes together," said Naomi Ayala, president of the U.S Bartenders Guild's Dallas chapter, at a recent group workshop. "It's for the kids."

Originally known as the Fantasy Bar Draft and then Cocktails for a Cause, the Ultimate Cocktail Event has snowballed since its initial runs at The Standard Pour in Uptown and Henry's Majestic in Knox-Henderson, more recently held at massive venues like the Bomb Factory and Klyde Warren Park. This year's move to Harlowe/Trick Pony takes the party back to its roots, while maintaining its spirit and spectacle.

"We're toning it back down," says Brian McCullough, among the event's original organizers and now a rep for Spec's Wine, Spirits and Finer Foods. "Everyone will feel the whole thing a little more."

The Ultimate Cocktail Event runs from 6 to 11 p.m. and capitalizes on the Harlowe/Trick Pony complex's two-story design - a perfect setting for the gala's traditional five-way battle of pop-up bars staffed by more than a hundred bar industry pros from DFW and beyond.

Every year, five teams of bartenders conceive an imaginary bar and spend time developing the drinks, concept and clever marketing campaigns in pursuit of the coveted people's choice prize. This year's event is an all-star reunion, bringing together each of the last five year's winners for a bid at the ultimate crown.

"We're even bringing back Ampersand and Ampersand," says Stephen Halpin, Dallas-based manager of trade education for Patron Tequila, referring to the cheeky name of 2014's champ.

But as Ayala says, it's all about the kids. It was Bryan Townsend, vice president of global sales for spirits producer The 86 Co., who launched Trigger's Toys 11 years ago after witnessing the positive effect that his dog, Trigger, had on an antisocial child at a local care facility.

Now, in addition to providing financial support for kids and their families facing long-term hospital care, Trigger's Toys every year buys holiday-season gifts for them and their families and funds therapeutic care for kids with autism, cerebral palsy and other conditions through an organization called Bryan's House.

"It has just evolved and evolved," Townsend says.

Joining "& and &," helmed by the Statler Hotel's Kyle Hilla, will be 2018 champ Elevate, captained by Megan McClinton and Jason Pollard of The Usual in Fort Worth; 2017 champ Cuba, led by Nicholas Grammer of The Mitchell; 2016 winner American Carnival, headed by Andrew Stofko of Te Deseo; and 2015 champ Zoom Zoom, led by Zach Smigiel of Billy Can Can.

Tickets are $65 and are available here.

Harlowe MXM, 2823 Main Street, Dallas

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Mustache seesaws and vodka ice cream: Bar squads vie for ultimate crown at 8th annual benefit in Deep Ellum - The Dallas Morning News