Restaurateur wages BBQ diplomacy with N. Korea

Reuters ^ | 04/21/10 | Edith Honan

[TigerLikesRooster]

Restaurateur wages BBQ diplomacy with N. Korea

By Edith Honan Wed Apr 21, 4:59 pm ET

HACKENSACK, New Jersey (Reuters) – New Jersey restaurateur Robert Egan barbecues meat for a living, except when he acts as a self-appointed, unofficial conduit between the United States and North Korea.

In his book "Eating with the Enemy: How I Waged Peace with North Korea from my BBQ Shack in Hackensack," which will be released on April 27, Egan recounts how he forged an unlikely friendship with North Korean diplomats at the United Nations.

For a decade, he courted them with racks of ribs, hunting trips and by making occasional trips to help deliver humanitarian aid to Pyongyang, the capital of the impoverished, reclusive communist state that harbors nuclear ambitions.

"With diplomacy, sometimes everyone takes themselves so seriously," Egan told Reuters during an interview at his restaurant Cubby's BBQ, located a short drive from Midtown Manhattan. "You know, you have to let your hair down every once in a while."

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[GSP.FAN]

Well that worked out very well,i believe the yellow pygmy will be testing another weapon soon and it sure ain’t a BBQ lighter....

[Incorrigible]

BBQ Hot Dogs eh?

[bert]

Obama is reading the book for testing the technique with Iran

[1rudeboy]

Absolutely, Mr. Egan. Despots and their agents need to eat, too . . . even when their subjects are forced to eat dirt to survive. Keep up the good work.
/s

[JPG]

Did he serve the Norks some of those great North Korean delicacies to remind them of home? Broken rice, tree bark soup, boiled roadside weeds? Yummy, yum, yum. I'm sure they wanted second helpings,too.

[jackibutterfly]

Yeah, so how did he get it over there???

[SevenofNine]

Maybe Chia Pet could make a deal with the dude with overgrown bunny rabbits LOL!

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Memphis ?
I'd believe Memphis.

Manhattan ?

[AmericanInTokyo]

Someone should investigate if the UN Diplomats from the North Korean mission violated terms of their stay in the United States per State Department directives limiting their movements outside of New York State/City area properly, going to Hackensack.

There could be a federal violation here, both in terms of the diplomats (they'd be identified and PNG'd out of the USA anyways--at least under a patriotic US regime), or this restaurant owner.

NOTHING is done in North Korean circles on the basis of "true friendship" but has an agenda, often intelligence-related.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Right.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Bump.