I was unable to attend this Dinner, so I had Rich, my right hand man, leave work early and attend for us. As always, Rich gives us an excellent review of the evening. This is his review pulled from the LIMBE site. http://groups.google.com/group/beermalt/browse_thread/thread/64b5aeeba1aace67?hl=en#

  Last night's beer dinner at Dek's was a special occasion marked with
the prescience of Greg Zaccardi from Ramstein and his German-style
beers paired with Dean/Kevin's formidable array of food. As I arrived
with the serving of the first course of spring rolls paired with the
Goose Island Matilda and was warmly greeted by other regulars to this
type of dinner, I noted other beer luminaries such as Ryan from
Manhattan Distributing, Spence-the brew master of Southampton Publick
Ale House, Andy Calimano (producer of the Nassau/Jamesport beer
shows), and Mark from Big Z (Huntington-area beer store). I also noted
our LIBME ranks were well represented by Wes+Deb and Thomas at the
other end of the table while I sat with Skip and his family.

With the beginning of each Ramstein-paired course, Greg Zaccardi
delivered an interesting discourse about the beer served, its history,
and how his brewery produces it. He even brought little ziploc
sandwich bags of malts and hops for everyone to see, smell, and feel,
which brought the diners into the story, regardless of their beer
knowledge. To further invigorate the diners and luminaries, the
Ramstein beers were served on tap in healthy pitchers as the food was
served family style on generous plates.

As the memory of last night's dinner will soon fade into my history, I
thought that illuminating the course line up would brighten the story:

1. Spring Rolls with hoisin sauce w/ Goose Island Matilda
2. Potato salad (no mayo, cheese instead) with shrimp w/ Ramstein Mai
Bock
3. Braised boneless short ribs w/ Ramstein Dunkel Hefewiesen
4. Chinese style stir-fry with turkey w/ Ramstein Hefewiesen
5. Ambrosia fruit over cake w/ Ramstein Imperial Hefewiesen

With the selections clearly and carefully thought out, my favorite was
the boneless ribs with the Dunkel Hefe'. With so many brewers making
high quality wheat beers such as Troegs, Legacy, and Money Pig, a
great Dunkel in the mix really went far with me.

With close of the evening, I noted there were at least 25 diners and
my only regret was that the number wasn't 50 or more for it's not
every night that one has a talented brew master on hand to talk about
his or her beers in such a bright and efficient manner. What added
even more emphasis was that there was another talented and respected
brew master (Spence) as just another face in the crowd.

In the future, I hope that we can get the word out to everyone earlier
about the Dek's beer dinners as an outstanding value for dinner and
drinks is unrivaled anywhere on Long Island at $35+/per person.