Last night at Daisy May's BBQ (in our humble opinion, some of the best in the city), we spotted a large and gregarious party in the back room. Upon closer inspection it turned out to include none other than Krazy Karine Bakhoum who reps the constantly embattled Jeffrey Chodorow. Bakhoum was there with Pascal Riffaud, her husband and the constantly embattled founder of pay-to-eat service Primetime Tables; Penny Glazier president of the Glazier Group and restaurant critic Gael Greene. There was also some mustachioed dude cheering for the Red Sox. Note to that guy: In your face. Note to Pascal: Happy birthday. Now to unpack what this gathering means.

The restaurant world is fueled by shadowy PR organizations, a culinary world version of the Office of Strategic Influence. These buzz-building machines, invisible to your average diner, are responsible for much of what you eat, how long you wait to eat it and just how long you'll eat it for.