Steve Dolinsky

The Path

And the University of Wisconsin gave the work its basic structure: gather, edit, report, repeat. From there, the practice took shape across Chicago through interviews, deadlines, taped segments, and the ongoing task of turning taste into usable copy and airtime. That reporting work later ran through NBC Chicago, IL (until 2025), where Food Guy became the on-air identity attached to Dolinsky’s coverage of the city’s changing restaurant landscape. The role at NBC Chicago showed the range required of a food reporter: editorial judgment, speed, and enough curiosity to keep pace with a market that never sits still. Since 2025, Steve is the Food Guy of Levy Restaurants (since 2025), continuing that same Chicago-based focus from inside a hospitality setting.

The Work Today

He is The Food Guy at Levy Restaurants in Chicago. The current role places Dolinsky’s work at the overlap of hospitality and food reporting, where the job depends on being able to speak clearly about restaurants, ingredients, and dining-room dynamics without losing the larger picture. In Chicago, that kind of voice functions as both service and record: practical for the trade, legible to the public, and grounded in the city’s daily food conversation.

Signature

Steve's signature dishes include Pizza City, Good Eating, The Hungry Hound, and The Food Guy. As titles, these mark the different modes of food journalism Dolinsky has worked in. Pizza City points to a subject-specific beat that can organize coverage around one category; Good Eating reads like consumer guidance; The Hungry Hound suggests pursuit and reporting instinct; and The Food Guy is the most direct version of the same role, stripped to something simple enough to function as a public shorthand. Together, they map a career built on variation within the same trade.

In Their Words “Started with TV, as a general assignment reporter, then moved to print on a freelance basis. Radio followed since I was already traveling with a tape recorder.” The quote lays out a working sequence rather than a career myth. Television came first, print followed on a freelance basis, and radio became a natural extension of the same mobility. The movement across media reflects a reporter’s toolkit more than a single format’s demands: carry the recorder, file the story, adapt the form.

Acclaim

Steve's honors include James Beard Awards and Emmys. Those awards place the work in the usual trade language of recognition: peer-reviewed, format-spanning, and earned over time. James Beard Awards and Emmys indicate that the reporting held up across different audiences and platforms, with enough consistency to register beyond one city or one screen.