Tesar Tells Brenner 'F--- You,' Lands Cover of Guide

Ever-outspoken chef John Tesar is quite the hot topic on the internet right now, following yesterday's incendiary "fuck you" tweet directed at Dallas Morning News critic Leslie Brenner and his subsequent announcement that Brenner was no longer welcome in his restaurants.

The print version of Brenner's three-star review was published today in the paper's weekly Guide section, and Tesar is front and center on the cover, looking somewhat surly with his hands jammed in his pockets as he poses in his much written-about $50,000 dry-aging room. The cover inspired D Magazine editor-at-large Tim Rogers to ask on Twitter, "So hang on. THIS is what @ChefJohnTesar is so angry about?" In a followup tweet Rogers continued, "I get your beef w stars. (Pun!) But that Guide cover pretty much says you are Jesus. You should be happy."

Tesar isn't quite thrilled, though, replying to Rogers with several tweets mentioning "being used" and saying, "The cover is cool however the critic sucks and it's not about the review it's about the person." In a telephone conversation yesterday with Eater the chef also mentioned the cover, saying, "If you piss off John Tesar, he's gonna react, and people will read it. She put me on the cover of GuideLive, and more people are gonna read it because they're going to see my picture on the cover."

The Dallas Morning News as a whole seems pretty amused by the debacle; a post yesterday on Eats Blog rounded up the flurry of online coverage, and they even posted a screenshot of Tesar's now-infamous tweet on the paper's official Facebook page (with the f-word blurred out, naturally).

· John Tesar Lashes Out at Leslie Brenner Over Three-Star Review [-EDFW-]
· John Tesar Bans Leslie Brenner From His Restaurants [-EDFW-]