Who

One of New York's leading restaurant publicists, Bakhoum heads the publicity firm KBHall Creative Group with Steven Hall.

Backstory

Born in Switzerland to a Coptic Egyptian father and an American mother, Bakhoum split her time between the U.S. and Europe as a kid and earned a literature degree from the American University of Paris before moving to New York to work at the PR firm Kratz & Company. Bakhoum launched her own outfit, KB Network News, in 1993. She's since repped dozens of big-name restaurateurs in town, including Jeffrey Chodorow, Peter Glazier, Steve Hanson, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Patricia Yeo, Matthew Kenney, and Geoffrey Zakarian. In 2008, she combined her agency with fellow dining publicist Steven Hall's eponymous firm.

Of note

The restaurants Bakhoum represents tend to be glitzy, big-box affairs. She's handled PR for most of Jeffrey Chodorow's restaurants (China Grill, Asia de Cuba, Kobe Club, Wild Salmon, Borough Food & Drink), John McDonald's Chinatown Brasserie, and the Jeffrey Beers-designed (and part-owned) Japonais. Bakhoum also keeps herself busy promoting hotels: casino magnate Steve Wynn is one her biggest clients in the hospitality world, and she's also repped the Carlyle, the Stanhope, the St. Regis, the Alex Hotel, and the Borgata Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City. She'll take on the occasional non-restaurant as well: Bakhoum flacks for the Japanese day spa Shizuka, owned by Shizuka Bernstein, the wife of Robert Bernstein.

On screen

Bakhoum is a regular judge on the Food Network's Iron Chef America. In early 2007, audiences cried foul after she judged a match in which Bobby Flay bested Chicago's Graham Elliot Bowles. Some viewers thought Bakhoum awarded Flay undeserved points because she used to handle his PR. If anything, though, that would have given her a reason to penalize him: Flay no longer works with Bakhoum and his publicist these days is her arch-rival, Jennifer Baum.

Personal

The zaftig Bakhoum is married to Pascal Riffaud, a onetime hotel concierge who stirred controversy in early 2007 with his restaurant concierge company, PrimeTime Tables. (The service helps plebes snag reservations at popular spots around town, and some suggested Bakhoum's ties to the industry gave Riffaud a leg up; Bakhoum has denied she had anything to do with her husband's business.) The couple has a son, Jean-Baptiste, and a daughter, Isabelle.

Family ties

Bakhoum is distantly related to ex-UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

No joke

In 2007, Bakhoum insured her palate—yes, her palate—with Lloyd's of London for $1 million. It marked a first for the British insurance company that once insured Celine Dion's vocal cords and Keith Richard's fingers.

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