This did NOT happen by accident ... Alec Baldwin and his wife going straight into L.A.'s hot zone for paparazzi the day after he exploded on a photog in Beverly Hills.

Tensions had to be high as Alec and Hilaria walked out of Craig's and slowly made their way to their car ... swarmed by paps who were all aware of what went down. In fact, we asked him about "the incident," straight up.

Watch how it plays out. Hilaria looks very worried about his reaction in the situation, but it's obvious Alec did this to make a point: that he can play nice with the paparazzi.

It's also pretty clear when he gets in the car ... this probably wasn't HIS idea.