Hirschberg, who ran her own marketing company until 2009, and is now senior program coordinator at Boston University’s executive MBA program, maintains that Bostonbrunchers.com is an aggregate of mostly amateur bloggers looking for their “Julie & Julia’’ moment - or just a tasty Sunday out. For Emily Olson, a gastronomy student at Boston University and aspiring chef who blogs at whatemilycooks.com, Boston Brunchers is a chance to “interact with other bloggers and visit places that we might not have access to.’’ Those visits include America’s Test Kitchen, pizza with cookbook author Crescent Dragonwagon and an upcoming session with The Farm School in Athol to learn about spring CSAs.

Quitadamo, who works in the shipping industry and blogs at thesailingfoodie.com, joined because “I can’t talk about food at work,’’ she says, gleefully spreading a layer of lavender butter on a mini doughnut.

Although arrangements vary from business to business, Boston Brunchers do not pay for their meals, but they do leave gratuities and that second Bloody Mary is not on the house. They blog for their supper and tweet for their sweets. While bona fide reviewers, who taste anonymously and pay for everything, see this as a conflict of interest (what bad things are you likely to say when the meal is free?) Hirschberg defends the practice. “The expectation is that the brunchers will write an honest interpretation of their experience in their blogs and through other social media,’’ she says. “We’ve had a few flop dishes and we didn’t hide that. I think it’s unacceptable for bloggers not to disclose when something was given to them free.’’

Bad brunches do happen. Nicole Spasiano, a blogger at iamahoneybee.com, reviewed crab cake eggs Benedict at Sel De La Terre’s Long Wharf restaurant last spring.