Steve Dolinsky has won 13 James Beard Awards for his TV, radio and podcast work. He is the Food Reporter at NBC 5 (Chicago), where his “Food Guy” reports air every Thursday night at 10 p.m.
Steve is also the Producer and Host of “Pizza City," a bi-monthly podcast featuring some of the greatest pizza makers in the nation, and was previously Co-Creator and Co-Host of The Feed Podcast with Chef Rick Bayless (which garnered a Beard award in 2015 for best podcast), a weekly show that ran from 2014 to 2019. He has also written food and travel stories for the Travel sections of the Chicago Tribune and Canada’s Globe and Mail, and was a frequent contributor to Public Radio International’s “The World.”
Steve is the author of “Pizza City, U.S.A.: 101 Reasons Why Chicago is America’s Greatest Pizza Town” (Northwestern University Press). In order to write the book, he visited 185 places in Chicagoland over the course of six solid months of eating. His “Pizza City U.S.A. Tours” began in May of 2018. Steve curates four tours throughout the city, each one giving guests a chance to sample four styles of pizza in three hours. There is one bus tour (usually led by Steve) and three walking tours every weekend. More info at pizzacityusa.com. His second book, “The Ultimate Chicago Pizza Guide: A History of Squares & Slices in the Windy City” is due out in the fall of 2021.
On the consulting side, Steve started Culinary Communications, a food industry-focused media training company that works with chefs and other food and beverage professionals outside of Chicago, teaching them how to prepare for and handle all kinds of media exposure. He also works with real estate companies to curate spaces involving food and drink clients, organizes and leads virtual pizza and/or cocktail experiences for companies and works with individual clients to curate unique culinary experiences.
Since 2009, Steve has been one of 26 Academy Chairs for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants, recruiting and overseeing 40 voters in the Mid-USA/Canada region. He has spoken and/or moderated at several industry events, including the James Beard Awards, the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen and the New York City Wine and Food Festival.
Steve volunteers his time for charitable organizations in the Chicago area that focus on hunger relief, including Share Our Strength and Meals on Wheels.
Before joining ABC 7, Steve was Executive Producer and Host of “Good Eating.” The weekly, half-hour show aired on CLTV, the 24-hour cable news channel owned by The Tribune Company. He produced and hosted 52 shows per year for 8 years, garnering six Beard Awards for his work there.
You can follow his eating adventures on Twitter and Instagram @stevedolinsky, as well as his website: stevedolinsky.com.
The Latest
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The Food Guy's Chicago Classics: Piccolo Sogno
All year long, NBC Chicago Food Guy Steve Dolinsky has been diving into “Chicago Classics.” They’re restaurants that are at least 15 years old with consistently good food and atmosphere that you’d be proud to take a tourist to. Tonight, that’s Piccolo Sogno, located in the city’s River West neighborhood. The brainchild of a chef who worked at Coco...
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The Food Guy: Carnitas Uruapan
The Mexican state of Michoacán is often referred to as “The Soul of Mexico,” partly for its culture, partly for its food. It’s the world’s largest grower of avocados, but also the birthplace of carnitas, which our Food Guy says are produced with dedication by a family celebrating 50 years in business. They’re marking the occasion by opening their...
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The Food Guy: Boston Fish Market
Old School fish markets like Hagen’s on the Northwest Side or Calumet Fisheries down south will see a bump in business over the next few weeks. But so will an importer with two suburban locations, who’s been in business for more than 30 years.
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The Food Guy: Jin Soo BBQ
There’s fantastic Korean food in Glenview and Northbrook, but The Food Guy Steve Dolinsky says a barbecue restaurant in Niles has instantly become his favorite.
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The Food Guy: ‘Sweet Steak' sandwiches
February is Black History Month, and NBC Chicago’s Food Guy is diving into a South Side sandwich created in the late sixties and still enjoyed today.
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The Food Guy: Chicken wings
While Buffalo may not have made it to the Super Bowl, you can bet plenty of folks will be diving into that city’s famous wings at parties everywhere this Sunday.
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The Food Guy: Lasagna
In the middle of winter, there are several dishes we love to dive into to conjure up warmth. One is lasagna.
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The Food Guy: Cariño
Chicago’s newest Michelin-starred restaurant is only a year old, but it’s one-of-a-kind, worthy of the accolades.
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The Food Guy: M'Dakhan – Middle Eastern cuisine with a twist
Like so many restaurants along South Harlem Avenue, the menu at M’dakhan is at once familiar and mostly predictable. But there’s one thing no one else nearby has.
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The Food Guy: Once Upon a Bagel
Hannukah and Christmas are vastly different holidays, but every once-in-a-while, the two events overlap, as they will next week.
