Is today the last hurrah?

If it is, enjoy your last legal foie gras-purchasing day, Chicago. May you have many amuses-bouche (i know the plural is wrong) and pay good money for garnish with a side of free foie gras in the future.

Here in Vegas, I am off to buy hookers, purchase alcohol 24 hours a day, gamble in a grocery store and legally enjoy foie gras without the (alder)man keeping me down.



'Tis a travesty, and I offer my deepest sympathy.


*edit: Okay, so the hookers aren't exactly legal.

Is today the last day? If it hasn't taken effect yet, Hot Doug's has three foie gras sausages on the menu:

Cognac-Infused Pheasant Sausage with Black Truffle Mustard and Foie Gras "Butter"
$7.00

Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Green Apple Mustard and Goat Cheese
$7.00

Fig and Brandy Duck Sausage with Foie Gras Sauce Moutarde and Port-Soaked Black Mission Figs
$7.00

gmonkey wrote:If it is, enjoy your last legal foie gras-purchasing day, Chicago. May you have many amuses-bouche (i know the plural is wrong) and pay good money for garnish with a side of free foie gras in the future.

Here in Vegas, I am off to buy hookers, purchase alcohol 24 hours a day, gamble in a grocery store and legally enjoy foie gras without the (alder)man keeping me down.



'Tis a travesty, and I offer my deepest sympathy.


*edit: Okay, so the hookers aren't exactly legal.

Ahh, Gmonkey! Shall I pick you up on the way to Pahrump, to eat legal foie gras off of a legal prostitute, followed by a legal game of crap? Methinks yes, all the while mourning the city of the big shoulders (and, apparently, weak stomachs....)

Before the internment camps come to take us away, of course.

I'm sorry, this needs to be said: WHAT POINTLESS, REACTIONARY BULLSHIT IS NEXT, EVERYBODY???? DON'T LET IT HAPPEN !!!! IF WE KEEP LETTING THINGS GO, SOON WE'LL HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO TAKE!!

Thank you.

Reb

gleam wrote:Is today the last day? If it hasn't taken effect yet, Hot Doug's has three foie gras sausages on the menu:

According to NBC5 this morning, the ban takes effect today, but enforcement does not begin until tomorrow. A variety of restaurants that do not normally serve foie gras have added it to their menus for today, including Connie's on Archer which will serve you a foie gras pizza.

Best,
Michael

eatchicago wrote:

gleam wrote:Is today the last day? If it hasn't taken effect yet, Hot Doug's has three foie gras sausages on the menu:

According to NBC5 this morning, the ban takes effect today, but enforcement does not begin until tomorrow. A variety of restaurants that do not normally serve foie gras have added it to their menus for today, including Connie's on Archer which will serve you a foie gras pizza.

Best,
Michael

The story on NBC5 also mentioned that Harry Carray's was adding it today as well, but I suspect it is more of a PR effort to get their name in the news than a show of solidarity.

eatchicago wrote:including Connie's on Archer which will serve you a foie gras pizza.

Uh, ew.

Maybe if it was spacca napoli or something that would sound good. But given how awful Connie's is...

gleam wrote:

eatchicago wrote:including Connie's on Archer which will serve you a foie gras pizza.

Uh, ew.

Maybe if it was spacca napoli or something that would sound good. But given how awful Connie's is...

I certainly give them props for the support. Actually, I think it's really interesting that restaurants that don't normally serve it are taking part in the last day. Is that for solidarity, you think, or just to cash in on a part of history?

Also, HungryRabbi, yes, please pick me up on the way to Pahrump. I'll bring my book of Sandburg poems so we can properly eulogize.

Any foie gras gelato or Italian ice available?

gmonkey wrote:Here in Vegas, I am off to buy hookers, purchase alcohol 24 hours a day, gamble in a grocery store and legally enjoy foie gras without the (alder)man keeping me down.

:*edit: Okay, so the hookers aren't exactly legal.

I was wondering when Clark County changed its laws. (g) It will put the show COPS off the air.

Antonius wrote:Any foie gras gelato or Italian ice available?

I could not resist a google search on this:

House of Blues Cleveland's Foundation Room serves:

"Duck, Duck, Goose"
Pan Seared "Labelle Farms" Foie Gras accompanied by a Duck Confit Cake topped with Foie Gras Gelato and Gooseberry Coulis

Enjoy!

Best,
Michael

Don't forget the foie gras milkshake at Avenues.

Here's a link to an article in today's Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/cust ... i-news-hed

According to the article, several restaurants are staging one-day protests and serving it today.

eatchicago wrote:

Antonius wrote:Any foie gras gelato or Italian ice available?

I could not resist a google search on this:

House of Blues Cleveland's Foundation Room serves:

"Duck, Duck, Goose"
Pan Seared "Labelle Farms" Foie Gras accompanied by a Duck Confit Cake topped with Foie Gras Gelato and Gooseberry Coulis

In light of this, I'm starting to think the ban wasn't such a bad idea.



A

Antonius wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Antonius wrote:Any foie gras gelato or Italian ice available?

I could not resist a google search on this:

House of Blues Cleveland's Foundation Room serves:

"Duck, Duck, Goose"
Pan Seared "Labelle Farms" Foie Gras accompanied by a Duck Confit Cake topped with Foie Gras Gelato and Gooseberry Coulis

In light of this, I'm starting to think the ban wasn't such a bad idea.



A

Funny . . . and I was thinking it sounds amazing (albeit a bit rich!).

BR wrote:

Antonius wrote:

eatchicago wrote:

Antonius wrote:Any foie gras gelato or Italian ice available?

I could not resist a google search on this:

House of Blues Cleveland's Foundation Room serves:

"Duck, Duck, Goose"
Pan Seared "Labelle Farms" Foie Gras accompanied by a Duck Confit Cake topped with Foie Gras Gelato and Gooseberry Coulis

In light of this, I'm starting to think the ban wasn't such a bad idea.



A

Funny . . . and I was thinking it sounds amazing (albeit a bit rich!).

I thought it sounded pretty good too!

Think I'll drive up to Montreal for dinner tonight and have me a foie gras creme brulee.

is everyone too cowed by the apparently unanimous opposition to the foie gras ban on this website to stand up for the ducks (and geese)? frankly, i've read a lot on the subject and believe that there is no consensus among experts as to whether the birds suffer through their forced feedings. but the birds certainly don't enjoy them and as long as there is any doubt (and i see no reason to think they arent suffering as much as they can suffer) i'll stay away from the stuff.
i love foie gras as much as anyone-my one visit to the banchet run le francais included foie gras with every course except dessert, but frankly, i think there are enough other things to eat so that i no longer feel comfortable eating it. while i would agree that the ban is pretty ineffectual (with the suburbs so close) i see no reason to make fun of it. i'm not always consistent, but i do try to buy only free range chickens, eggs, and meat. i see no moral reason to be a vegetarian, but i also see no good reason not to treat the animals and fish that i eat as humanely as possible. it gets easier every year to avoid cruelty to the food we eat and i think its a good policy to follow. justoan

PETA wrote:The USDA requires that "free-range" animals have access to outdoor areas, but there is no provision for how long they must spend or how much room they must have outside. The Associated Press reported that the USDA's regulations don't "require the birds to actually spend time outdoors, only to have access."(3) An eyewitness revealed that on a farm advertising that its hens were raised in a "natural setting," the birds were actually crammed "wall to wall--6,800 chickens with one rooster for every hundred hens. They never set foot outside."(4)

Awesome.

And, for what it's worth, the ducks and geese run up to the handlers when it's force feedin' time.


Foie Gras farm.


Chicken house.


Cattle feedlot


Pig feedlot


Hey, you believe what you want.

justjoan wrote:is everyone too cowed by the apparently unanimous opposition to the foie gras ban on this website to stand up for the ducks (and geese)?

How do you know they want to be stood up for?

justjoan wrote:is everyone too cowed by the apparently unanimous opposition to the foie gras ban on this website to stand up for the ducks (and geese)? frankly, i'm tired of reading all the sneering posts. i've read a lot on the subject and believe that there is no consensus among experts as to whether the birds suffer through their forced feedings. but the birds certainly don't enjoy them and as long as there is any doubt (and i see no reason to think they arent suffering as much as they can suffer) i'll stay away from the stuff.
i love foie gras as much as anyone-my one visit to the banchet run le francais included foie gras with every course except dessert, but frankly, i think there are enough other things to eat so that i no longer feel comfortable eating it. while i would agree that the ban is pretty ineffectual (with the suburbs so close) i see no reason to make fun of it. i'm not always consistent, but i do try to buy only free range chickens, eggs, and meat. i see no moral reason to be a vegetarian, but i also see no good reason not to treat the animals and fish that i eat as humanely as possible. it gets easier every year to avoid cruelty to the food we eat and i think its a good policy to follow. justoan

I have some friends who refuse to eat foie gras or veal or meats/poultry from sources other than Whole Foods and certain other purveyors, and I respect their opinions. So I am not here to make fun of anyone's decision to avoid eating foie gras -- I can't even determine whether foie gras production involves cruelty or not as experts do not even necessarily agree on this. But I think the foie gras ban is ridiculous, and it appears to me that all that Alderman Joe Moore did was to propose a ban that he thought would be easy to push through the city council so everyone knew that he was the proponent and that he got an ordinance passed. I took the time to write him twice to ask him why he didn't address veal or pigs -- they're is no debate regarding veal or the pigs raised in gestation crates. And afterall, Joe Moore is on record as saying that he's against any form of animal cruelty and that it is the city council's job to protect against such cruelty. He did not respond to me on either occasion. If he really cared about cruelty to animals as he says he does, then he would have addressed veal as well as the chicken/beef products that come from the larger commercial farms that raise their animals in horrid conditions and which are eaten by almost all Chicagoans as opposed to the very few who even know what foie gras is. Thus, I believe the ordinance is mere "window dressing." But my annoyance with Joe Moore and the rest of the city council does not mean that I don't respect those who refuse to eat foie gras because they believe its production involves animal cruelty.

According to the tribune if they give it away as a "Garnish" its still legal.

So I imagine we'll see a lot of "Garnish" on menus starting tomorrow.

Well, justjoan, I don't think the point is that we don't care about the ducks nearly as much as it is an acute awareness of where this sort of government interference leads. I believe in voting with my dollars, and so I, too, buy free range chicken and eggs (they also happen to be better for me, and taste better, too). Ultimately, this is about government control -- hence the concern over the next proposed ban -- transfats. And what after that?

So, even though I still consider foie gras a delightful delicacy that I don't wish to give up, my concern about the ban has nothing to do with ducks' rights or humane treatment of animals. It is a considerable and very reasonable concern over the government trying to decide what is best for everyone. I'm just as upset about the new rulings in many places that a local government can decide to take your home away from you if more taxes could be generated from something else, such as a strip mall.

Charlie Trotter was able to give up foie gras without government interference. I don't think it helped or hurt his business, but he was free to make that choice. (And he is, in fact, frantic about the government interference -- he's a Libertarian and also feels that voting should be done by market and not be edict.)

I see the foie gras ban as a test case. The city council ran over Daly and it is going to find out what else it can do. Hence, the already proposed transfat ban.

So don't think we don't care about humane treatment of animals. We're more worried about humane treatment of humans.

Not foie gras related: So, just how unethical is your supper?

Forget the "cruelty" issue...the libertarian in me says the ban was a stupid idea. Laws restricting supply do not reduce demand, and the net effect is always a "black market" in the banned item.

In this specific case, those who want to ban foie gras would have been better served by mounting an HONEST publicity campaign demonstrating why foie gras should not be consumed.

Of course, this is coming from someone who believes that drugs and prostitution should be legalized, regulated, and taxed like hell...

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I've been to one foie gras purveyor (Cooperative des Eleveurs Gaveurs de la Girdonde) where they claimed the ducks weren't force fed - they were just left with a lot of food, which they ate voraciously, and apparently enjoyed tremendously. So, I haven't read the wording of the law, but does it apply only to force-fed poultry, or does it apply to anything carrying the label "foie gras?" Does it mean that any dish containing duck or goose liver is illegal? And if poultry liver isn't going to be illegal, how does the city plan to test whether or not the liver came from a force-fed or naturally fed bird?

nr706 wrote:So, I haven't read the wording of the law, but does it apply only to force-fed poultry, or does it apply to anything carrying the label "foie gras?" Does it mean that any dish containing duck or goose liver is illegal? And if poultry liver isn't going to be illegal, how does the city plan to test whether or not the liver came from a force-fed or naturally fed bird?

Excellent question... Alas, the people who came up with this law are probably not accustomed to thinking too deeply and likely not terribly interested in the actual issues at hand.

Antonius

Antonius - I still think we need to collaborate on a restaurant that's a combinaion of Guts 'n Such and the Foie Gras Hut.

nr706 wrote:Antonius - I still think we need to collaborate on a restaurant that's a combinaion of Guts 'n Such and the Foie Gras Hut.

Doesn't Foie Gras qualify as a gut?

that's a combinaion of Guts 'n Such and the Foie Gras Hut.

Doesn't Foie Gras qualify as a gut?

A happy compromise:

The Gut Hut!

I shoulda been in marketing...

Lynard's Innards

I had a lovely slab of foie gras with a glass of Sauternes last night at La Sardine, not because I love torturing animals but because it was delicious.

The whole idea of banning a food because of cruelty is absurd. Where does it stop? The Councilman's assertion that the smoking ban and the foie gras ban are in the same category, and if the city council can ban one and get away with it, they can ban the other just as easily--that's just scary, mostly because he's right...so far. My hope is that by the time the full smoking ban is supposed to take effect in 2008, people will have come to their senses and realize that there are far more important battles to be fighting. Frankly, it's embarassing.

But the one thought going through my head as I savored every bite of that rich, fatty liver...can't we at least put it in perspective of consumption? I can count on one hand the number of times I've eaten true foie gras, and I know more people who have never tried it--and never will--than those who have, or will. Just how much foie gras are we talking about here?

Now let's compare total foie gras consumption in the city of Chicago to, say, consumption of chicken nuggets, which I watch my nieces and nephew scarf like kiddie crack. What are we saving? Are we valuing the treatment of a few ducks over the treatment of scores and scores of chickens? Should we concern ourselves with the greater good? Will the masses of ill-treated chickens, whose lovely flesh is ground up with other bits and pieces and stamped into a shape nature never intended, please stand up?

Fight the big fight.