Dark Horse Owner Recognized for "Getting it Done"

Downtown restaurateur Dee Muma, owner of at the corner of East Main Street and Peconic Avenue, was presented the "Getting it Done Award" this afternoon at Sustainable Long Island's Fifth Annual Sustainability Conference.

According to Chris Kempner, the town's Community Development Agency Director, the "Getting it Done Award" - or, as Muma called it, the Larry the Cable Guy Award -"honors those who moved beyond the talk toward implementation and highlights individuals and groups who identified a community need and have taken a project from an early concept to a successful completion."

Added Kempner: "I never thought I'd be eating the best steak frites there on such a regular basis."

Muma opened Dark Horse in September and has since begun construction on an adjoining building, which she said will contain a catering room and and art gallery. In conjunction with East End Arts Council Director Pat Snyder, Muma also from the National Endowment of the Arts. The grant would allow the two to provide affordable housing for artists, which Muma would offer on the second floor of her new project.

"Sustainable Long Island recognizes all of Suffolk and Nassau, so for them to think Riverhead is important is something special," Muma said. "I didn't get into this for awards, I did this because I want to see downtown start moving. But things seem to be moving along."

Muma was also recently as the owner of the Business of the Year in the Dark Horse.

At the Chamber dinner in January, Chamber Secretary and local news editor Tim Kelly, in presenting Muma with the award, finished with a quote from one of his own articles on the Dark Horse: "If and when downtown Riverhead does make that long-anticipated turnaround, Ms. Muma will have played a major role."

So what exactly does it take to "get it done?"

"One steps up to the plate and just gets it done," Muma said.