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We hope that everyone who wanted a final slice of foie gras got some before the city’s ban on the delicacy went into effect yesterday. There were some restaurants that decided to serve it in defiance of the ordinance (mainly bandwagon jumpers who had never served the dish prior to the ban, but see the frivolous nature behind the ban). We spent last night at home, watching Alderman Joe Moore on “Chicago Tonight”, who refused to let common sense get in the way of politics and bureaucracy, defending the ban. If City Council could only only turn this can-do spirit on enforcing the Shakman decree, removing ghost employees from the payroll, and finding a solution, other than soft asphalt, to fixing that pothole in Pilsen that nearly swallowed our bicycle whole last week. Still, it's nice to see Alderman Moore stick to his guns, even if he's only carrying empty water pistols.
If anything has come out of the ban, it’s that foie gras now has the heightened profile chefs and connoisseurs have been wanting of the dish, and only the most hardcore, malnourished vegans think the ban is a good thing. Folks who dine on it regularly are understandably disappointed, while people who never heard of the dish are saying to themselves, “Now what is that again, and why can't we eat it?” Almost all of them find the ban epitomizes the overreaching of government.
Here at Chicagoist, we’ve pimped this “Outlaw Dinner”, at the Omni Hotel’s 676 Restaurant, for a couple months now. Unlike other dinners served around the city that shed light on the foie gras ban, executive chef Robert Gadsby – who also helms Noé in Los Angeles and Houston – decided to place foie gras in context with other foods that have seen their respective shares of controversy in the past, like morels, hemp seed, and meats cooked at low temperatures. Gadsby looks at cooking as “a celebration of life; the purest act of generosity and love”, sees the lack of logic behind the foie gras ban for the grandstanding that it is, and realizes that it isn’t just relegated to Chicago.
The Outlaw Dinner has been doing bang-up business in Los Angeles, and Gadsby was present at 676 Restaurant the other night for the final hours of legal foie gras in the city. It was a bit hard for us to shift gears from South Side cheap eats and comfort food to slow dining, but we’ve done it enough to be able to fake our way through the hard parts. We have a review of the seven-course Outlaw dinner after the jump.
Our meal started off with the food at the center of it all. The foie gras flight included a seared slice of duck liver, served on toast with a strip of bacon and a poached quail egg; foie gras au torchon, wrapped in prosciutto, and served with an apple-fennel gelee; and a foie gras bonbon with pop rocks. When the plate was set in front of us, we could hear the faint crackling of pop rocks, so that’s what we ate first. Oddly enough, this dish worked, the savory texture of the foie gras mixed with the childish glee from the pop rocks to put, as Moe Szyslak famously said, a party in our mouth.
This was followed with a dish containing sweetbread nuggets, serve with morel whipped potatoes and summer truffle jus. Morel harvesting was at one time banned in some states, as a means of protecting people from possibly picking poison mushroom, by mistake. Our experience with sweetbreads has usually been limited to char-grilled selections at Tango Sur, so this flash-fried morsel of gland was a welcome surprise, complemented perfectly by the truffle jus. The potatoes were packed with morels, which lent a semi-sweet quality to the dish.
Next up was a fried island creek oyster, served with caviar and a chive crème friache, and paired with a green fairy cocktail. Instead of absinthe, however, our cocktail was made with Absente. The cocktail, with its prominent anisette/licorice notes, was a perfect palate cleanser, after the strong flavor of the oyster, which was on the half-shell, atop a bed of sea salt. That was followed by a kampachi ceviche, served with a hemp seed tabouli. Between the hemp seed and the absente, we were hoping for a slight case of the munchies to kick in. Instead, we concentrated on the focused spice of the ceviche, and awestruck by the way the tabouli complemented the dish.
Even with foie gras on the menu, for us the most controversial course on the menu was a Liberty Farm duck breast. The duck, served with Romesco breadcrumbs, a garlic emulsion, and marcona almonds, was prepared using the sous vide technique. Think of how a pressure cooker works, and you’re on the right track to understanding sous vide. When cooking using the sous vide technique, you’re cooking at low temperature, in a vacuum. Many municipal health inspection offices consider sous vide to be a violation of code, as the threat of botulism is present, if not prepared properly. We say, if you’re vain, scrape off some of that botulism and inject it into your forehead, to remove the wrinkles.
Chef Gadsby said that after seasoning the duck breast, it was vacuum sealed, and cooked at 147 degrees for 4-1/2 minutes, with the skin side of the duck facing down, to prevent overcooking. He said that one degree more and the duck breast would have been overcooked. We liked the breast, but thought the pairing with the garlic emulsion and almonds was too much of one thing. We would have preferred a sweeter emulsion, like tamarind, to heighten the flavor of the duck.
Our favorite two courses on the menu were the unpasteurized cheese flight and hot chocolate, infused with foie gras. The cheeses were simply amazing, particularly this goat cheese that was whipped with raspberries to the consistency of a cheesecake. Served with a straw, the first taste of the hot chocolate belied the savory texture of foie gras, followed by a rich, semisweet chocolate flavor. Toasted marshmallows and a nutmeg dusting complemented the cocoa.
Even with foie gras banned, Gadsby hopes to make the Outlaw dinner a regular event at 676 and both Noé locations. Plans for future dinners include a lobster-themed dinner, to highlight the recent decision of Whole Foods to stop sell frozen lobsters exclusively, which the soft-spoken Gadsby declared asinine. “You can’t buy a dead lobster. What’s the point?” What we liked most about the Outlaw Dinner was the historical references behind each course. Each course featured an ingredient or cooking technique that is either outlawed in some form, or was once banned, with a brief historical reference behind each dish. The courses were also perfectly paired with wines, specifically this elegant ’98 port paired with the cheeses. It’ll cost you (about $140 per person with wine pairings), but it’s really money well-spent.
We should also give much love to the staff at 676, who were well-informed on each dish, attentive without being cloying, and crisp with their service. A wonderful job all around, we hope to see more Outlaw Dinners in the future.
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Next up ban on Speedo's on Oak Street Beach. We need to get rid of these Alderman and get some people in there that actually do something. Like working on fixing the CTA problems or crime.
The foie gras chef considers the dinner "a celebration of life; the purest act of generosity and love"--I like that, and moreover, I see what he means! Check it out:
http://tinyurl.com/f23zd
Er, the surveys I've seen cited said something like 20 percent supported the ban. Certainly 20 percent of the population is not crackhead vegans.
Those of us who are not crackheads are still slowly coming to the realization that we perhaps shouldn't torture what we eat.
Anyway, back to your wild generalizations of how everyone thought this was overreaching... where exactly are you getting that?
Pop rocks are what should be banned.
$140 per person with wine pairings
Wow, Fight the Power, Outlaws.
Silly, hypocritical law...silly, hypocritical backlash.
Who sponsored the surveys, mk? Can you post to them for us? I'm not being challenging - I just wasn't aware of any that were done. Thanks!
$140 per person with wine pairings
Wow, Fight the Power, Outlaws.
Silly, hypocritical law...silly, hypocritical backlash.
Seriously,
Stupid law, stupid Foie Gras eaters.
Enjoy your "Celebration of life"
Maybe they'd have paid more if the chef jammed a tube down their throats and pumped the whole meal into their stomachs in a few seconds.
- A meat eater
Twenty percent of people polled may have supported the ban, but that sure as hell ain't a majority, is it?
And, compared to the genuine problems this city faces, it is overreaching, not a wild generalization. Not only is it overreaching, it's insulting.
i saw that 'chicago tonight' last night as well, and i tell ya, i have never ever agreed with chris robling before, but he absolutely skewered ald. moore. why isn't moore concentrating on kids in his ward who can't read at their grade level? what about crime? what about working to connect people with jobs instead of outlawing food and certain stores? I think robling made the point that coffee is harvested by more or less slave labor throughout the world -- are we going to ban coffee in chicago until the coffeemakers improve their labor practices? And what's next? veal, i'd imagine. Then what? hamburgers? Why not, it's not as if cows, whteher they are producing meat or milk, have a comfortable life. I read an article in the Dark One over the weekend about how cows that give 'organic' milk really don't get to roam around the farms they are on like people would want to believe -- they're stuck in barns, stepping in their own poop, basically living as milking machines -- should we ban 'organic' milk then? Oh, let's try it.
God forbid alds. moore and the rest of them should actually try to do something constructive.
Something constructive like improving labor laws, demanding humane forms of killing for your dinner table and making sure trade is not only free but fair? I think that would be pretty constructive. If we don't demand better practices, how can we really do anything constructive? Otherwise, isn't it all just gloss? As I get older, I worry about losing my capacity to care about others and that includes animals.
Hamburgers aren't going anywhere. Please.
Dude, you said... "only the most hardcore, malnourished vegans think the ban is a good thing." I pointed out that that is BS, and that it’s more like 20% who agree with the ban. (That doesn’t include people who probably disagree with eating foie gras, but who don’t want a ban.) Now you're deflecting my criticism by simply pointing out that 20% isn't a majority? You should work in politics or something. You have a gift.
Erin, the surveys were on some news reports I saw (don’t recall the channels), but Chicago Trib has a survey with almost the same results. I don't have a link, but it's on their website. Also, some pretty non-malnourished, non-vegan chefs in Chicago are also poo-poo on foie gras (Trotter and Tramonto). Anyway, my point is that Chuck's assessment of the situation is way more tilted than the reality. There are plenty of us carnis emerging that aren't willing maximize the pleasure of our palates to the total exclusion of the interests of the animals we are eating, and some of us think you shouldn’t do that either. We aren’t the majority, but let’s not paint us as the crackpots that Chuck would like to make you think we are.
The foie gras ban makes me absolutely livid.
You can spare me the blather about the poor, poor geese and the reactionary pseudo-libertarian propaganda about government "overreaching". The foie gras ban exists thanks to two types of people:
1. The ideallogically impotent, who unfortunately don't have matchingly weak egos.
2. In-your-face, unabashed classists.
Today, right now while you're reading this, there are children in this city receiving sub-par educations and living lives surrounded by poverty and crime. Single parents are struggling to raise their families while subsisting on low wages. Men and women from Chicago are fighting and dying in two wars halfway around the world. Ghost payrollers are wasting precious tax dollars that could and should be used to help improve the lives of all the citizens of this city. And today, a law has taken effect that intends to protect the lives and well-being of geese. Fucking GEESE. And it will have PRECISELY ZERO effect on the intended benefactors (the poor, poor geese)! I mean are you fucking kidding me?!? This is what we pay our tax dollars for?
To all of you who support or helped pass this stupid, silly, and ultimately ineffectual law: I envy you. I wish that I too could posess the utter lack of integrity, wit, and strength in conviction that apparently gives you no perspective on the real problems we face, while still posessing the amazing sense of self-righteousness that you display in legally forcing your delusional morals on the rest of us. I don't know how you do it. Were I a coward and a fool, I think I'd only be able keep my damned mouth shut.
And yet I don't know how you can be so incredibly dishonest: If you cared one whit about animals' well-being... if you gave half a damn about protecting their lives, you wouldn't start with foie gras. You'd go after chickens, or cows, or pigs. But no, you couldn't do that. Perhaps that's because you feel almost as much concern for the folks who subsist on those animals as you do for the sacred geese? Nah. I think it's because you're too weak, too shallow, too dim, and too cowardly to really stand up for what you claim to believe in and instead go after only the easiest of targets: The upper-class folks who are supposedly the only diners who enjoy foie gras. I mean, "They're rich, so fuck 'em," right? You're like half of a Robin Hood: "Steal from the rich and... well, benefit nobody." Idiots. You self-important, deluded, arrogant, short-sighted, inept, weak-minded idiots. You've accomplished absolutely nothing -- other than keeping a few people from enjoying a dish they choose to eat, and stroking your own egos.
If you're keeping score at home, here's the breakdown:
-Children receiving poor education: Thousands.
-Children living in poverty: Thousands.
-Single parents struggling to get by: Thousands.
-Soldiers dead or dying in foreign wars: Thousands.
-Money spent on ghost payrollers: Millions.
-Laws enacted today to deal with any of those issues: Zero.
-Laws enacted to protect geese: One.
-Geese actually protected by that law: Zero.
Thanks a lot, fois gras banners. You and your silly law are a sad, pitiful commentary on our priorities as a society. Not only did you help enact a law that deals with the most trite and insignificant issue possible -- in the face of literally hundreds of others of real gravity. You also made it a law that doesn't do anything. Job well done.
ReverendSlappy you're going to have to yell a hell of a lot louder than that if you expect us to be able to hear you from all the way up in that ivory tower. I'm on my high horse and I still can't hear you.
Amen to ReverendSlappy, right on.
It's time to get rid of all those wackido Alderman we have in Chicago. Too many of them sitting around with nothing productive to offer.
Ald. Moore has no business representing any of Chicago or anyone. I hope he puts this damn law on his grave stone as his great achievement in society.
mk, Rick Tramonto is against the ban. He thinks it's a constitutional issue and has publicly wondered where the line is drawn if foie gras is banned.
And if I wanted to be a politician, mk, I would definitely have pointed that error out sooner regarding Tramonto.
i am against eating foie gras because i think it's inhumane. i don't necessarily support the ban, but i do wonder why people are getting so f*ing hystrionic about it. is it really a constitutional issue? really? i'd prefer if people stopped eating it of their own accord - this ban seems to be popularizing by giving it cache, which is unfortunate. but is the ban really that big of a deal?
i certainly agree that there are much bigger priorities. it would be great if the city council got on them. maybe we can somehow make that happen. i hope. but if the foie gras ban is a bad law it can be repealed, right? in the meantime, is it going to have a negative effect on poor children? is it going to hurt the uninsured to ban foie gras?
i guess i just don't get why people are apoplectic about this food, which very few people ever taste, being banned.
i would also like to go on the record as stating that they should repeal the ban on absinthe - the repeal of which would in fact do me some good.
Tramonto is poo-poo on the f.g., so says the NY Times today. It said nothing about whether he supported the ban, and neither did I. I'm sure there are some rational people who don't like the stuff, but who at the same time don't think it should be banned for legal/constitutional reasons (although, since you're asking for sources from me, Erin, I might ask for yours too). I got no serious beef (or fattened liver) with those peeps, just as long as they don't tell lies about how only malnourished vegans support the ban.
The opponents of the "foie gras" ban are a vocal minority who are resistant to any form of social change. Recent Zogby polls found that 80% of Americans and 79% of Illinois residents believe foie gras should be banned. Other forms of animal cruelty and torture are already banned, and this is no different. I have been inside both major foie gras farms in the U.S. and several in France, and the methods are always the same: shoving large metal pipes down ducks' throats to forcibly enlarge their livers to 10 times their natural size.
The purpose of government should be to protect the weak and easily exploited, including animals tortured for a frivolous delicacy. This particular resolution passed 48 to one, and these are local legislators who live in and are in touch with their communities, so complaining about the heavy hand of government telling people what to eat is totally misplaced. I commend Alderman Joe Moore for having the courage and integrity to stand up to the small but rabid lynch mob that believes torturing animals is acceptable in a civilized society.
Please see www.stopforcefeeding.com for pictures and video I have personally taken inside foie gras farms.