Tucker Carlson in 2013 (Photo by Gage Skidmore)
Ex-bow tie enthusiast Tucker Carlson has a beef with D.C.’s dining scene: He says he keeps getting “yelled at” when he goes out to eat.
The Fox News host went on a National Review podcast Monday, where he explained that he’s “not much of a restaurant guy” here in the city of Michelin-starred and Bon Appetit-recognized eateries, where he says he lives.
“I can’t really go to a lot of restaurants anymore because I get yelled at,” he said on the latest episode of The Jamie Weinstein Show. “I don’t feel threatened, but having someone scream, ‘Fuck you!’ at a restaurant, it just wrecks your meal.”
While there haven’t been any reports of Carlson being harassed while out in D.C., plenty of restaurants here have been unwitting hosts of political protests since this summer. Protestors confronted Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen at MXDC Cocina Mexicana in June, playing audio of children crying as Border Patrol agents separate them from their parents. A patron at Espita Mezcaleria called White House senior adviser Stephen Miller a “fascist” while he ate dinner there that same week. The following month, a local teacher told Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt to resign when she spotted him at Teaism (he did so three days later). In late September, demonstrators challenged Senator Ted Cruz as he sat down for dinner at Fiola, chanting “We believe survivors” until Cruz and his wife left the restaurant (they returned to eat after the protesters decamped).
Carlson did say he has found one restaurant where he’s able to dine in peace. “I go there because I love it and nobody hassles me.”
While he didn’t name the restaurant, the Hollywood Reporter notes he’s a fan of The Palm, the Dupont Circle steakhouse that sports caricatures of journalists and pop culture figures. Indeed, several profiles of Carlson note his fondness for the restaurant. New York Magazine wrote that at one point he dined there at least once a week.
“I eat at The Palm a lot,” Carlson told the site FamousDC in 2012. “One, I like the people who work there, I like all the waiters; two, it’s consistent. The crab cakes are excellent at The Palm. I like the veal parm a lot. I love the pickles. So I like The Palm.” Watch out, Tom Sietsema!
“I’m not a restaurant guy anymore,” Carlson said on the podcast. “It’s sad. I can’t wait for this revolution to end, so I can go back out to dinner.”
Lori McCue