Matt Dawson

Raised in West Baton Rouge, Matt has fond childhood memories of duck hunting with cousins out of a wooden pirogue — a flat-bottomed boat common to south Louisiana — on Lake Dauterive. Because his dad was a game warden and would bring home injured animals, the family pets included a raccoon, owl, foxes, armadillos and horses. Also a part-time culinary master, Matt is a three-time gumbo cook-off champion in Austin.