Chicago Public Radio Blog

5 questions with...Steve Dolinsky

Tuesday March 24, 2009 by Justin Kaufmann, Web Editor

The nominations for the James Beard Foundation Awards were released yesterday and Chicago has a slew of nominees. If you aren't familiar, the Beards are the Oscars for the culinary world. One man who knows the Beards really well is ABC-7's Steve Dolinsky (The Hungry Hound). He has taken home 12 awards in his time covering food in Chicago. 12! He has won in several different mediums, including his work here at WBEZ. Full disclosure: I was Steve's producer here at the station for many years and I have 2 James Beards to show for it. Don't believe me?

Wow, that was a decade ago. Look, he has 2 around his neck in this picture!!!! And look at all my hair!!!

Steve is nominated for his 13th James Beard Award this year. He has been stuck on 12 for the past 2 years and he is hoping this year is...well his time... again. I caught up with Steve because we are still friends. Well, Facebook friends. Well, I'm still waiting for him to confirm.

Here are 5 questions with...Steve Dolinsky.

JK: What's your favorite moment from past James Beards ceremonies?

SD: Any time you win, as you well know, you get to roam around to all of the after parties, wearing that big, bronze medallion and looking like a Count or someone from the Transylvanian royal family.
It's the only night each year you can get away with that, and not be mocked like a fool. I love how the seas part, a la Charlton Heston, when you walk into a party that night wearing a medallion.

JK: In your opinion, do the Beards represent Chicago well?

SD: Usually, we've only seen the same five or six names (Bayless, Trotter, Mantuano) but in the last few years, we've seen an explosion of nominations, I think 17 this year? This is also the first year we have almost a half-dozen food journalists nominated, a credit to the fact we are covering the local scene more than ever. Yes, I think in the past few years, the awards committee has gotten it mostly right.

JK: Recently, you got yourself in an internet pickle with bloggers and on-line foodies who criticized you for reviewing a restaurant on your twitter feed. This, after you talked about how you shouldn't review restaurants after one sitting.

SD: Not sure how expressing an opinion in 10 words or less, or updating a Facebook status qualifies as a "review." As someone who's been covering the food scene here since 1995, I think I'm entitled to express my opinion on occasion. I never do so on ABC obviously, but if someone asks me about a place, I'm going to give my honest opinion; that's what a dining budget is for, and it provides a level playing field without bias. Unlike Yelpers and some bloggers from sites/publications that do not have a dining budget, I don't attend media dinners or freebies for press only. If someone considers a Twitter feed a review, they're just lazy readers. They should spend more time reading Frank Bruni or Tom Sietsema or Michael Nagrant and less time whining about me.

JK: Food entertainment has exploded in the past decade. Why have you resisted the temptation to go to the coasts?

SD: I haven't resisted anything, they've resisted me! Believe me, I've been trying for nearly 10 years to get the right pitch together, and finally I think I'm onto something. In the next few months, I'll be pitching them two shows, and my fingers are crossed one of them will come through. Andrew Zimmern's ability to do "Bizarre Foods" from a home base of Minneapolis convinced me that you don't need to live in New York to get a national show on the air.

JK: Do you cook? What is your favorite meal to prepare? And do you mind if I review it?

SD: Love to cook and wish I had more time to do it. I make a mean root veg. gratin in the winter, and can whip up a killer guac. I can also grill skirt steak like a Mexican. I'm also somewhat of a cocktail enthusiast, and have been paying close attention to the bartenders at the Violet Hour. You want to review me? Bring it.

JK: Can you tell me anything saucy about some of our food stars? Like do the pastry chefs really hate the sous-chefs?

SD: Hey now, what happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen!