If you haven't checked out the Chef Registry, you should. The site allows reporters to post their story ideas and source needs free of charge to a captive audience of chefs who are registered on the site so they can get in on this happenin' media action. Every week, Chef Registry posts awesome stories-in-progress from the likes of Food + Wine, Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times.

I called it Chef Registry because I didn't -- and I don't -- want publicists to sign up on behalf of their clients. The reporters don't want to speak to publicists, after all; they want chefs. So we just let chefs, mixologists, and sommeliers register.  If I'm going to provide a service, I'm going to give the people what they want.

Of course, I'm human and, on occasion, a publicist or two slips past the velvet rope. I'm learning a thing or two from these odd experiences, though. Recently, a reporter posted a fabulous story idea to the registry, one that happens to apply to any restaurant that serves a family meal to staff prior to service.

Not one of the publicists sneakily registered on the site responded. I found that very curious, given that their raison d'etre is to get their clients press. I'll not speculate why, but maybe you should.