Family, food and fun at fair

PALMER — Luke and Casey DenBleyker must have had a moment at fish camp in Ninilchik.

The Palmer-born-and-raised brothers suddenly were struck with an idea — let’s run a booth at the Alaska State Fair! Their first thought was a little taco stand for mom (known throughout the Mat-Su for her perfect tacos). Casey thought of salmon. After all, they are commercial fishermen.

They talked about it and decided salmon was too run-of-the-mill. This is Alaska, and everybody has a salmon or 20 in the freezer.

That’s where Casey’s wife Shayle stepped in. She’s a trained chef and also Palmer born and raised. She served the family some of her Reuben sandwiches at a family gathering. Soon, Casey and Luke had a plan. Reubens, exotic Reubens, best-in-the-world Reubens. Shayle is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, and her Reubens are indeed world class.

Add Samantha DenBleyker, Luke’s wife, and the family has the core team at Reuben Haus at this year’s state fair at the Alaska State Fairgrounds in Palmer. It’s a true family endeavor — even Grandpa DenBleyker came down from Sutton to help. In fact, four generations of DenBleykers are part of this family fun.

Getting a fair booth isn’t an easy task. You can’t just say, “I want a booth.” Usually, somebody has to die or be willing to sell their space. Last year, the fair decided to have a “food vendor showdown” at its annual meeting and the winner would be offered a booth. Reuben Haus won the contest with more than 200 votes, and the idea moved beyond being a dream and into being realized.

Casey came up with a design for the booth and the entire family chipped in, including in-laws like the Hays family of Wasilla, cousins and the extended family one acquires from living in a community your entire life.

Shayle’s menu was planned for perfection. In fact, Casey says that beyond wonderful food, the idea from the design of the booth to the smiles on the family that serves you is to have the best eating experience ever. The menu features her Reuben sandwiches, beer-battered mushrooms, and savory fries. The sandwich features beer-braised sauerkraut with bacon, homemade Russian sauce (a secret recipe), Tillamook Wwiss cheese and corned beef on marbled rye bread. The rye is even toasted on the inside to prevent soggy sandwich syndrome. All this is grilled to the perfect point.

Their button mushrooms are breaded in a seasoned porter beer batter and are served with dipping sauce (a secret recipe). The beer is from Arkose Brewery, a family owned local micro brewery, and is very special to the superb taste of both the sauerkraut and the mushrooms. The fries are made from Yukon gold potatoes with a spicy seasoning and come with a special ketchup.

Eventually, Casey hopes that as much product as possible comes from local farmers and producers. The relation with Arkose Brewery is just the beginning to what the family hopes to accomplish.

This is a Valley story, a Palmer story and a family story. All — except Samantha, who married into the family — were born at Valley Hospital, and even delivered by the same doctor, Dr. Brown. They all even went to Colony High School.

Growing up in a state fair town may have helped them down this path, but it is obvious that whatever this fine family sets their sights on they will not only accomplish, but complete far beyond the ordinary.

And the sandwiches really are great!