Chicago Hungry Hound Steve Dolinsky Joins NBC 5 as “the Food Guy”

Longtime Chicago food media persona Steve Dolinsky, formerly recognized as the Hungry Hound, will shortly return to the eating defeat, signing on as a foodstuff reporter at NBC’s WMAQ-Channel 5. Now rebranded as “the Foodstuff Person,” Dolinsky’s new section is slated to air on the 10 p.m. newscast on Thursdays setting up this week. It will run yet again on Friday afternoons and weekend mornings.

Speaking to Chicago media reporter Robert Feder, Dolinsky claims that he won’t consider and reinvent his tactic — the new segments will strongly resemble his former get the job done and he’ll carry on to go over a range of restaurants, from upscale new openings to neighborhood favorites all around the town and suburbs. He is, nonetheless, completely shedding the Hungry Hound title, although it’s not but clear irrespective of whether the adjust is Dolinsky’s selection or an difficulty with ABC.

A various James Beard media award winner, Dolinsky departed ABC 7 Chicago in late January just after 17 decades soon after the station determined not to renew his contract. A great deal was manufactured of his departure, as it promptly followed the retirement of Tribune dining critic Phil Vettel just after 31 yrs. The information elicited a eulogy from Washington Write-up dining critic Tom Sietsema, who construed the exits as a doable loss of life knell for Chicago’s standing amid the prime U.S. dining scenes.

Feder spoke with Kevin Cross, the president and normal managers of NBCUniversal Local Chicago, who was liable for selecting Dolinsky. Cross outlined nostalgia in observing ABC 7’s James Ward who spent two a long time carrying out restaurant assessments on Tv, from 1995 to 2005. Vettel was amid his admirers.

Four months immediately after Sietsema’s pronouncement, nonetheless, Dolinsky is back on Television set and the Tribune (because ordered by the notorious Alden Money Team) promoted dining reporters Louisa Chu and Nick Kindelsperger to co-critics. The sky was never slipping on Chicago’s food media landscape: the pieces have in significant element moved around as acquainted faces and voices reemerged under new titles.

It continues to be to be found if that very same fate awaits Elliott Bambrough and Marley Kayden, co-hosts of Emmy Award-successful food stuff clearly show Chicago’s Greatest. WGN announced previous month that it has canceled the exhibit just after far more than a ten years.

Dolinsky, who has a sequel to Pizza Metropolis Usa because of in October, was not right away attained for comment.

And in other information…

— Mammoth tunes festival Lollapalooza usually attracts famous people to Chicago for performances and gatherings. Certain sufficient, stars — they are just like us! — also will need to try to eat. Right here are a number of VIPs spotted eating close to the metropolis, in accordance to reps:

— Once-a-year neighborhood food items pageant Taste of River North is canceled for 2021 thanks to pandemic fallout even now struggling with Chicago’s hospitality sector, in accordance to a information release. Even though quite a few dining places in the place would like to participate, also lots of are continue to having difficulties with economic complications and staffing shortages that make it difficult to run a significant public celebration, organizers say. The occasion, which would have marked the fest’s 20th anniversary, was slated for August 20 to 21. More specifics and data on refunds for progress ticket holders are out there on the web.