NEW YORK CITY – Before Dennis Rodman and so-called “basketball diplomacy,” there was Bobby Egan and BBQ diplomacy.

Egan, 55, is a New Jersey restaurateur who spun a mind-bending tale in his 2010 memoir “Eating with the Enemy: How I Waged Peace with North Korea From My BBQ Shack in Hackensack” (St Martin’s Press), ranging from interrogations under the influence of sodium pentothal by security agents in Pyongyang to bass fishing trips in Jersey with North Korean officials.

He acted as an unofficial (but officially tolerated), semi-authorized conduit between North Korea and the United States, eventually developing a close personal relationship with former