But such was the case recently at the "FU Foie Gras" dinner at Lafitte in San Francisco, where 10 peaceful protesters held up signs outside the restaurant, imploring people to stop eating foie gras, the luxurious fattened liver of a goose or duck.
Animal welfare supporters, many of whom have been picketing restaurants that have foie on the menu, applaud the upcoming law that will stop what they believe is inhumane treatment of the birds, which are speed-fed with a tube down their throat to engorge their liver. But many chefs are rallying against the law, which they believe is unnecessary and unfair. A number of them, including Lafitte's Chef-Proprietor Russell Jackson, have visited foie gras farms in the United States and found no such mistreatment, especially because ducks have no gag reflex, breathe through their tongue, and naturally increase their consumption when they migrate.
Lafitte hosted sold-out foie gras dinners monthly until it shuttered earlier this spring. I was fortunate enough to be invited as a guest of the restaurant before it closed to experience its $89 six-course prix-fixe that featured foie in every dish, including dessert.
Click here to read more about the protests and my tasting notes from that night.
