When d.b.a. co-founder Dennis Zentek died suddenly last month, we were in shock. Beer Sessions Radio™ host Jimmy Carbone had been working with Dennis and he was scheduled to be on the podcast on Heritage Radio Network later this spring. Thus, it was with heavy heart that we attended his memorial service this past Wednesday at d.b.a. (East Village) and neighboring Marble Cemetery on a beautiful cold day with cherry blossoms harkening new life despite the sadness of the ceremony taking place.
“Those of you who knew my brother, or just knew of him from me or one of the posters below will remember him as a unique individual whose greatest pride was saying he never worked a day in his life since as a Rock n Roll photographer, a bartender and finally a bar owner he was being paid for being at places he would have been anyway doing things he loved to do surrounded by beautiful women.”
- Joe Carroll of Fette Sau/Spuyten Duyvil
- Anthony Malone of Swift Bar
- Sam Barbieri of Waterfront Ale House
- Tommy Harder of Blind Tiger
- Meghan Connaire of Jimmy’s No. 43
- Pat Fondiller of Smuttynose
- Lucien Bistro
- Plus brewers Abita, Anchor Brewing, Brooklyn Brewery, Coney Island Brewery, Palm, Rodenbach, and Sly Fox for donating kegs to toast Dennis the way he would have liked, by “drinking good stuff.”
We know that Dennis has been reunited with Ray and they will be drinking the good stuff together, reminiscing on their all-too-brief but profound impact on the craft beer world.