Chicago chefs dish up foie gras for New Year's

by Nicole Weston, Posted Dec 27th 2006 @ 1:07PM

In spite of the laws in Chicago and the thread of a fine if they are broken, many Chicago area chefs are planning on turning their restaurants in to "duckeasies" for New Year's Eve diners, adding foie gras to one or more menu items on the grounds that the "holidays just wouldn't be the same without a little fattened liver." Restaurants that will be serving foie gras include Gioco, Wave in the W Hotel Lakeshore and Cyrano's Bistrot & Wine Bar, among others.

City health officials are not surprised by the news, saying that there are some restaurants that never stopped serving the stuff. Health inspectors say that looking for the fatty livers is "without question the least-important thing [they]'re called upon to do" and some chefs even report that their health inspectors have turned a blind eye to it when it is in plain sight.

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Filed Under: Lush Life, Chefs & Restaurants, Restaurants
Tags: chefs, chicago, dining, dinner, eating, foie gras, illegal, law, luxury, midwest cities, restaurant, restaurants, trend, trends, w hotel

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-27-2006 @4:48PM Ima Wurdibitsch said... I recently dined at Tallula in Arlington, VA. I'd never had foie gras prior to that evening and wasn't sure I'd like it. With all the hoopla about it and it being banned in some areas, I decided I must try it while I still had the chance.

I'm so glad I did.

Chef Nathan served it with sweet and sour quince, a buckwheat crepe and blackberry sauce. It was divine!
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12-27-2006 @9:59PM Ashlee said... Do you know what foie gras is? I suggest that you take a look at how those ducks are treated before being slaughtered. If you like I can send you several links showing the horror. If you decide to ignore it and keep eating it, then you are selfish and ignorant. Get the facts first before you eat anymore!!
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12-27-2006 @10:00PM Ashlee said... Foie Gras equals harmless ducks being tortured!
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12-27-2006 @10:19PM Rikki Harrison said... Yes it is divine! There is nothing better than shoving a funnel down a duck's throat and force feeding it until it's intestines burst and protrude from it's rectum. mmm my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
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12-27-2006 @10:31PM humanist said... Foie gras production (like most of our food supply) isn't black and white. There are farms who treat their foie gras poultry a whole heck of a lot better than much of the poultry you're likely to find in a supermarket or from a fast food chain. There is liver from birds that aren't gavaged available. Some of the birds which are gavaged are only done so to the point that they still digest everything. Some are allowed to move around and aren't penned up in a confining cage.

If the birds are maltreated or stressed, then you won’t get a healthy liver with which you can make good foie gras.
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12-28-2006 @3:09AM Dmnkly said... Rikki...

You're absolutely entitled to state your opinion, but spreading misinformation isn't the way to go about it. This whole "bursting duck" phenomenon is a stupid myth that's completely unsubstantiated by any source that's remotely reliable... including the official EU panel that put out a massive and comprehensive report that actually supported a ban on gavage.

Get your facts straight before your make a fool of yourself, please.
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12-28-2006 @3:45AM Dmnkly said... And Ashlee...

"If you decide to ignore it and keep eating it, then you are selfish and ignorant."

Again, stating your opinion and trying to sway others is great, but shocking as it may seem, not everybody who disagrees with you is selfish and ignorant. Two people examining the same scientific evidence on the subject can (and frequently do... including members of the American Veterinary Medical Association) draw very different conclusions regarding whether gavage is or isn't torturous (or even painful).

Because somebody disagrees doesn't necessarily make them "selfish and ignorant". It often simply means that they don't find the available evidence compelling, much less conclusive.
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12-28-2006 @5:38AM JT said... What's funny with all the fuss about foie gras is the fact we (= the general public) pretty much eat whatever else lies around without caring.
I personnaly don't like foie gras because of the taste, but I love beef and chicken, and I think it's not a rosy picture either.
It's amazing that many are offended by the treatment of animals, then go to H&M and buy a $3 scarf made by a chinese child...
Anyway, there's still a lot of fixing to do in 2007... best wishes.
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12-28-2006 @5:36PM duffysneighbor said... Ashlee-- I know full well what happens, as having visited numerous such farms. You are mislead, but regardless-- It doesn't change the fact that foie is a wonderful, luscious, centuries-old culinary tradition that you can't stop.

You can express your opinion, and I will now go express mine-- by buying more foie, searing it in a nice canola oil with fresh pepper and fluer de sel. Cheers.

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12-29-2006 @10:02PM Amar said... so what's next veal, kobe beef , poussins(baby chicken)foie is the best thing ever when it comes to food... thanks
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12-29-2006 @5:15PM Robin Gondek said... ANY animal that is tortured for human consumption or enjoyment is unacceptable. Read up before you eat up.
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1-01-2007 @12:40AM acute said... Everyone just shut up and enjoy the goddamned website. If you don't agree with something then leave. Nobody is asking you to stay and we don't want to hear your complaning anyway. These people are just doing their job (ie blogging about food).
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1-31-2007 @8:25PM jason said... If you think fois is any more cruel then pigges being butchered THINK again and if you dont like it dont eat it . Any animal we eat is slaughter and is bread for that , So if you dont like it become a veg head and slaughter baby vegtables!!!!!!!!!
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