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Chicago's foie gras list.

yellow truffle

By yellow truffle
in The Heartland: Dining

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Alex

Alex

Posted
Posted
"I sent an email this morning. "

To where? the Mayor's Office does not list an email address? -Dick

Go to http://www.cityofchicago.org/Mayor/ and you'll be redirected to the correct page. Click on the teeny-tiny "Contact Us" at the top of the page.

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food."  -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1

 

"Imagine all the food you have eaten in your life and consider that you are simply some of that food, rearranged."  -Max Tegmark, physicist

 

Gene Weingarten, writing in the Washington Post about online news stories and the accompanying readers' comments: "I basically like 'comments,' though they can seem a little jarring: spit-flecked rants that are appended to a product that at least tries for a measure of objectivity and dignity. It's as though when you order a sirloin steak, it comes with a side of maggots."

 

"...in the mid-’90s when the internet was coming...there was a tendency to assume that when all the world’s knowledge comes online, everyone will flock to it. It turns out that if you give everyone access to the Library of Congress, what they do is watch videos on TikTok."  -Neil Stephenson, author, in The Atlantic

 

"In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual." -Galileo Galilei, physicist and astronomer

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ulterior epicure

ulterior epicure

Posted
Posted

Thanks CM.

ronnie - or TBTP, can someone please merge this thread with the other one on the ban on foie gras in Chicago... I'm getting really confused, and they seem to be running identical issues... :wacko:

u.e.

“Watermelon - it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face.”

Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

ulteriorepicure.com

My flickr account

ulteriorepicure@gmail.com

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azureus

azureus

Posted
Posted

I think that I should move to Chicago and open a foie gras speakeasy.

April

One cantaloupe is ripe and lush/Another's green, another's mush/I'd buy a lot more cantaloupe/ If I possessed a fluoroscope. Ogden Nash

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inventolux

inventolux

Posted
Posted

So let me get this right, Tom Cruise can eat placenta but we cant eat foie.....thats nuts. I look at this like prohibition. Its just not going to work. Just call ahead, I'll have it ready for you. Ask for the "blue pill". Its quite tasty and no one ever remembers having it.

Future Food - our new television show airing 3/30 @ 9pm cst:

http://planetgreen.discovery.com/tv/future-food/

Hope you enjoy the show! Homaro Cantu

Chef/Owner of Moto Restaurant

www.motorestaurant.com

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ulterior epicure

ulterior epicure

Posted
Posted
So let me get this right, Tom Cruise can eat placenta but we cant eat foie.....thats nuts. I look at this like prohibition. Its just not going to work. Just call ahead, I'll have it ready for you. Ask for the "blue pill". Its quite tasty and no one ever remembers having it.

Good one Chef Cantu!! :laugh:

Right, the blue pill... would the tiny red ones be Beluga caviar? :wink:

u.e.

“Watermelon - it’s a good fruit. You eat, you drink, you wash your face.”

Italian tenor Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

ulteriorepicure.com

My flickr account

ulteriorepicure@gmail.com

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Lady T

Lady T

Posted
Posted
Is anyone else embarassed by this?  How can Chicago be a restaurant destination city when we can't even serve foie gras?

Looks like I need to find a supplier for our New Year's Eve party.  Where in the suburbs just north of the city can I find foie gras?

:wink:

Treasure Island. Sunset Foods (by special order, I believe). Whole Foods (likewise? Never tried it yet. Never had to before.). Convito Italiano, oddly enough.

Anyone know of others?

:biggrin:

Me, I vote for the joyride every time.

-- 2/19/2004

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smorris291

smorris291

Posted
Posted

I already sent e-mails to the driving force behind this ban, Alderman Joe Moore, and my Alderman as well...here's the link to Moore's webpage where you can sned him your thoughts, too:Ald. Moore

One of my favorite comments about this comes from Moore himself, who stated that the ban sends "a powerful message that we uphold the value of a civilized society." Maybe it's just me, but my belief is that a truly civilized society trusts and respects its citizens enough to make decisions like this for themselves.

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Dryden

Dryden

Posted
Posted

Of course, one of the things that separated early civilized societies from the wandering nomads... is that they made foie gras.

I want pancakes! God, do you people understand every language except English? Yo quiero pancakes! Donnez moi pancakes! Click click bloody click pancakes!

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gaya

gaya

Posted
Posted

I just heard to news and I can't belive it. The history and legacy of foie gras is greater than any animal rights activast of alderman of some shity town in Chicago. I say to chefs of Chicago get together(minus Charlie Trotter) and have this over turned. Have a Foie Gras diner, or something like that. There is to high of demand fof foie gras. It should be the choose of the chef if they want to serve it in his/her restaurant, and it should be the choose of the diner if he/she wants to consume foie gras. End of story.

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budrichard

budrichard

Posted
Posted
"I sent an email this morning. "

To where? the Mayor's Office does not list an email address? -Dick

Go to http://www.cityofchicago.org/Mayor/ and you'll be redirected to the correct page. Click on the teeny-tiny "Contact Us" at the top of the page.

I do not believe that is a link to the Mayor's Office but to the City of Chicago. The page for the Mayor's Office dose not list an email. -Dick

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nick.kokonas

nick.kokonas

Posted
Posted

Found a copy of the actual ordinance here .

Interesting to read the "Whereas" section, including the citation of a Zogby poll within the ordinance...

Also, it bans the "sale" of Foie, not the serving. I am wondering if there is a meaningful distinction legally speaking. Can a restaurant give Foie away for free?

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slbunge

slbunge

Posted
Posted
Found a copy of the actual ordinance here .

Interesting to read the "Whereas" section, including the citation of a Zogby poll within the ordinance...

Also, it bans the "sale" of Foie, not the serving.  I am wondering if there is a meaningful distinction legally speaking.  Can a restaurant give Foie away for free?

I'm certainly not politician (nor attorney or linguist), but they choose a very interesting sentence structure for the actual prohibition...

All food dispensing establishments, as defined in section 4-8-010 of the Municipal Code, shall prohibit the sale of foie gras.

Sort of a passive agressive way to say that it is, in fact, the City of Chicago that prohibits the food dispensing establishments for selling the stuff. Minor point, just struck me as odd.

Interesting point regarding the 'SALE' as some have mentioned. If everyone sitting gets an amuse bouche of foie gras on toast points that is not listed on the menu and, therefore, not priced, the city would be hard pressed to say that it was being sold.

Stephen Bunge

St Paul, MN

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docsconz

docsconz

Posted
Posted

What would the potential penalty be for testing the waters on this? Would anyone be willing to take on the potential costs of fighting this by "giving it away" as an amuse? Even if legally gray area, the potential costs of dealing with this are high.

John Sconzo, M.D. aka "docsconz"

"Remember that a very good sardine is always preferable to a not that good lobster."

- Ferran Adria on eGullet 12/16/2004.

Docsconz - Musings on Food and Life

Slow Food Saratoga Region - Co-Founder

Twitter - @docsconz

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Daniel

Daniel

Posted
Posted (edited)

Since the amuse is included in the cost of dinner, it could be argued that it is for sale.. Or if I am wrong, then a restaurant could set something up where one could make a donation and then get a foie gras dish.. Like there is no price, only a suggested donation amount.. What are the penalities for just outright ignoring the ban?

Edited by Daniel (log)
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nick.kokonas

nick.kokonas

Posted
Posted (edited)

The proposed fine is $250 to $500 per day... I am not sure if per incident means each and every serving, or just the incident of having it on the menu. I am not a lawyer, but this is a terribly vague ordinance clearly meant to have a political impact... it seems rare to me to cite a Zogby poll in a city ordinance.

My thought is that under a prix fixe menu of 14 courses, it is clearly defined what the diner is paying for -- those 14 courses. If the restaurant chooses to serve Foie Gras for free without adding to the check, they have not sold it. In fact, it would then be claimed as a Comp against restaurant receipts, diminishing the revenue for that day by the amount of the cost of the Foie.

I would argue that not only is the Foie not being sold, it is in fact a money loser that will reduce the EBITDA of the restaurant.

Talk about unintended consequences -- free Foie for diners and tax benefits for restaurants. Good job, Ald. Moore! Thanks!

Edited by nick.kokonas (log)
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russ parsons

russ parsons

Posted
Posted
Found a copy of the actual ordinance here .

Interesting to read the "Whereas" section, including the citation of a Zogby poll within the ordinance...

interesting wording on that poll: it's what is known in the business as a "push" poll. the polling was taken after an "educational statement". here is the text, from the farm sanctuary website:

"Foie gras is an expensive food item served in some upscale restaurants. It is produced by force-feeding geese and ducks large quantities of food, causing the animals' livers to swell up to twelve times their normal size. A long metal pipe is inserted into the animal's esophagus several times a day. Often, this process causes the animals' internal organs to rupture. Several European countries currently prohibit this practice as cruel. Do you agree or disagree that force-feeding geese and ducks to produce foie gras should be banned by law in the United States?"

in addition to loaded language, several points presented as facts are, at best, disputed.

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