Staff Blog
Foie Gras Week scheduled for March 13-19
posted by Drew Lazor
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| PhilaFoodie |
A slew of local restaurants are participating in Foie Gras Week, which runs from this Friday, March 13, to next Thursday, March 19. Current participants include ZoT, Zinc, Xochitl, Bistrot La Minette, Izumi, Vintage, Valanni and quite a few more.
On offer: Five-dollar foie gras plates, which’ll vary from place to place. According to the FGW site, guests who order the specials will get an opportunity to vote for the best foie dish of the lot. The individual who turns in the most ballots will win a gift certificate from the restaurant that receives the most first-place nods.
The event is spearheaded by Philadelphia Chefs for Choice, which began organizing pro-foie promotions in 2007. (Please note that the members of the coalition have changed dramatically since that time.)
UPDATE [6:37 p.m.]: “The advocacy group Chefs for Choice is motivated by their belief that the culinary arts are a creative medium,” reads a just-issued release from ZoT chef/owner Bernard Dehaene. “Like artists in any other area, they believe in their right to choose and use products on their menus free from the dictation of others. Though this philosophy may provoke debate at times, ultimately every dish a chef creates is a work of art.”
The release namechecks Hugs for Puppies, the animal rights group that made headlines in 2007 for picketing Philadelphia restaurants that served foie gras — most notably London Grill and Le Bec-Fin. They successfully persuaded several restaurants into removing it from their menus. HfP has gotten a bit of ink in CP — check out David Snyder’s July 2007 interview with director Nick Cooney.
Check out a full list of Foie Gras Week participants after the jump. An interesting note — for a Dec. 2007 “What Happened Next?” piece (second from the bottom), Cooney told me that HfP had successfully convinced the restaurant Valanni to stop serving foie. Guess who’s bizack?
UPDATE [9 p.m.]: Added new participants to the list.
Alfa
Bar Ferdinand
Bibou
Bistrot La Minette
Caribou Café
Izumi
London Grill
Mémé
Mercato
Positano Coast
Sauté
Southwark
Time
Valanni
Vintage Wine Bar & Bistro
Xochitl
Zinc Bistro
ZoT
PLEASE NOTE: Mercato Restaurant & BYOB is also a participant! Along with Vintage Wine Bar!
i hate hugs for puppies…aside from their absurd pet issue (really? foie? really? that’s the issue worth your organizing/volunteering? cmon. plus, i think you’re wrong. but it’s foie gras. at least protest factory farming. CMON.), their ridiculous name, I’ve found their protest behavior reprehensible.
First time I encountered them was at amada. which was silly because amada didn’t even have foie on the menu at the time (I know, I asked for it because they made me want it with their annoying chants). Second time, I was at Rembrandts–a full block away–AND I COULD HEAR THEM SCREAMING AT LONDON GRILL. They ruined my evening conversation FROM A BLOCK AWAY.
so to all you restaurants who joined or are considering joining this foie gras week, a tip o’ the hat.
Foie Gras Week… really? In the middle of the worst economic down turn of this century and you think this is going to fly? People are staying home because they are afraid to spend money, why in God’s name would they say to themselves, “Hey! You know what? Let’s not worry about our gas bill and go out to try Foie Gras dishes in Philly.”
Why don’t you try cheap Tapas alternatives, quantity and low cost? If a family can go out and keep their bill low, they’ll come back again and again. Live in the present please.
Hugs for Puppies are a bunch of thugs. How about a free whipped cream pie to throw at them with every meal over $40?
Having no real prior experience with Hugs for Puppies besides riding my bike past one of their protests, I became witness to one of Nick Clooney’s school presentations. It was apalling. I was helping out in a public school classroom that was hosting the presentation. Not only did Mr. Clooney show videos of the slaughtering process to children (which I don’t even think I need to explain how inappropriate that is), but he gave out literature that was completely fanatical and inaccurate. One example: Farm animals are just as smart and have the same emotions as humans”. While it would be nice to think that our animal friends can think the same thoughts and feel the same emotions as us, it is scientifically impossible. Compare the size of a chicken’s brain to that of a human’s. I would gladly pay Hugs for Puppies a million dollars if they could explain how a brain a fraction the size of ours could function on the same level. I also want to add that I am not coming form a place of ignorance- I have not eaten meat in six years. However, using scare tactics and misleading information is not the way to go about changing anything, especially when those you are frightening and misinforming are children. Political decisions are personal, and I fully support the right of these restaurants to serve fois gras
Hugs for Puppies nows calls itself the “Humane League of Philadelphia” (trying to hide its illustrious past?) and has partnered with PAWS to do a “Walk for the Animals” in May.
Wonder if PAWS knows about Hugs for Puppies/The Humane League history?
Yes, these restaurants have a right to sell foie gras in this country, but a week dedicated to pushing its sales? Totally Tasteless. I suppose we need monkey brains week (yes they do like to eat this in some countries), cat and dog meat week (people eat these too) … and don’t forget veal week. It’s so great that we have the elite pushing expensive “delicacies” at the price of compassion. Go ahead and read about factory farming yourself.