It’s National Foie Gras Week! From June 11–16, Chicago Chefs for Choice fete the first anniversary of the return of the unctuous duck liver to Chicago menus with the 2009 Foie Gras Fest. Each restaurant offers a specially-created foie gras dish — or more — for just $10.
Chef Rick Gresh of David Burke’s Primehouse was all a-Twitter: “I have 10 foie gras dishes each for $10 or get all 10 for $75!!!”
The event celebrates the repeal of the Chicago City Council’s 2006 ban of the luscious but controversial delicacy. Pro-foie spokeschef Didier Durand saw his restaurant, Cyrano’s Bistrot, vandalized by duck-loving foie foes during the flap.
Rising national ridicule, and urging from a disdainful Mayor Richard M. Daley, made aldermen backtrack last year. “I think that was one of the silliest, silliest decisions anyone made, to outlaw foie gras,” the mayor said. “Just think, you’ll go down every ethnic food in the city and [the council will say], ‘Outlaw. Outlaw.Outlaw. You can’t eat this, you can’t eat that.’
“The City Council will be sitting in your kitchen to determine … what you should [eat].”
Participating Foie Fest restaurants include:
Cafe Bernard, Lincoln Park, Chef Bernard LeCoq
Cafe Matou, Chef Charlie Socher, Bucktown
Carlos’, Highland Park, Chef Carlos Nieto
Cyrano’s Bistrot, River North, Chef Didier Durand
David Burke’s Primehouse, River North, Chef Rick Gresh
Hemmingway’s Bistro, Oak Park, Christopher C. Ala
May Street Market, West Town, Chef Alex Cheswick
