Steve Dolinsky [Photo: Todd Rosenberg]/Graham Elliot
In the middle of having lunch today at Graham Elliot's new West Loop spot G.E.B., ABC 7's Hungry Hound Steve Dolinsky was kicked out of the eatery and tweeted, "Was just kicked out of g.e.b. after eating 3 dishes. Edict from GEB via phone. Weirdest thing ever. Classy." Dolinsky followed that up with a tweet directed at Elliot saying he loved the spring risotto he was eating and asked, "Why call and instruct staff to stop serving me immediately?"
Elliot quickly then called Eater with his reasoning. "When he ate at Charlie Trotter's and live tweeted through the whole meal how shitty it was, to me that's so egregiously over the line that I absolutely will not have someone like that at my establishment," he said. Elliot is referring to a dinner Dolinsky had at Trotter's last October when he wrote why he'll never dine there again. Elliot was personally offended because he looks at Trotter as a mentor after having worked at his restaurant.
Elliot was not at his restaurant when this happened, but apparently was called by a manager because the team had been instructed not to allow Dolinsky to eat there. "That's one of the benefits of owning your own restaurant," Elliot said. "I've never done that before and I would have done it to his face had I been there. Unfortunately it went down the way it went down."
Dolinsky wasn't immediately available for comment, but you can bet he'll likely write up something on his blog. It may not have been the smartest move to boot one of the more respected and widely viewed food journalists out of your restaurant, especially when he hadn't directed any negative comments to the food.
But the way Elliot sees it, that was his prerogative. "It's OK to have opinions but to have so little respect to do that while in the company of the actual business you're in, I can't see past that," he said. "After the way I saw he disrespected my mentor, I didn't want anything to do with him."
· Why Dolinsky Won't Dine at Charlie Trotter's Again [~EChi~]
· Steve Dolinsky [blog]
Loading comments...