Since Galvan started using Twitter four months ago, he estimates his sales have doubled.

“What helps the most is that the chefs who follow my updates can actually see the quality of the product we’re carrying, in real time,” Galvan says.

He isn’t alone. As technology has made communication easier and faster, a growing number of chefs and others in the food industry have taken to social media services such as Twitter and Facebook to promote themselves and their projects, interact with customers and fans, offer special promotions — or just see what all the fuss is about.

Others have taken to setting up their own blogs or writing blogs for larger media groups, such as Alinea’s Grant Achatz, who routinely files posts for the Atlantic Monthly’s food blog.

Still, some chefs, including Blackbird’s Paul Kahan, have been slow to embrace social media.

Kahan’s publicist Ellen Malloy thinks perception is part of what’s holding them back.

“They actually don’t think anyone cares about what they have to say,” Malloy says. “They couldn’t be more wrong. People are salivating for their words and thoughts almost more than for their food.”

Master of the medium

With his cookbooks, cooking shows and recent win on “Top Chef Masters,” Rick Bayless is as media savvy a chef as they come. When he was looking for an outlet to interact with customers and fans, Bayless set up a Twitter account.

“A friend of mine in California suggested I take a look at Twitter,” Bayless says. “I looked at Facebook — my wife and daughter have Facebook profiles — but it looked like it would consume me if I dove in.

“Ninety percent of what we do goes on behind closed doors and I wanted to give fans a glimpse behind the scenes on the way toward them becoming vested members of the Frontera family. Twitter seemed like the simplest route to do that.”

What Bayless likes about Twitter is its immediacy and ease with which he can post updates.

“I could maintain a blog, like the one I wrote during ‘Top Chef Masters,’ ” Bayless says, “but Twitter has a limit of 140 characters and I can steal away a few seconds to post updates on my phone.”

But Bayless’ use of Twitter goes beyond promoting all things Frontera. He’s become a master of the medium, using it to offer advice to aspiring chefs; post recipes, photos of his backyard garden in Bucktown and videos of trips to Mexico; hold haiku contests, and re-tweet posts from others he finds interesting or amusing.

He has given hearty nods of approval to other restaurants, such as the Wicker Park Greek restaurant Taxim. Bayless wrote that Taxim “does for Greek food what we’re trying to do for Mexican.”

I even saw Bayless take time out from opening day at XOCO, 449 N. Clark, his new tortas and chocolate shop, to tweet.

I must be craving fish today or something.

Ingenious use of the time-sensitive nature of Twitter. Seafood merchant posts photos of ‘today’s catch’ and tweets them to interested chefs who may want to place an order.