They’re fighting for their right to foie gras.
Manhattan chefs refuse to run and duck over the Big Apple’s impending ban on the goose-liver delicacy — and are excited by a recent lawsuit filed by two upstate farms, La Belle and Hudson Valley Foie Gras, seeking to can the ban, which was passed in 2019 and is due to take effect in November.
“The minute the lawsuit was launched, we sent it to all our restaurant clients, all the chefs who are interested in foie gras,” said Ariane Daguin, founder of D’Artagnan, a New Jersey-based national meat-and-game distribution company. “There were people telling us, ‘How can I help?’ So it’s a very good sign.”
Marco Moreira, executive chef and owner of French restaurant Tocqueville near Union Square, said, “We’re working on a new menu and we’re planning to have foie gras on the menu, as we always have. We’re not slowing down any time soon for sure.”
Foie gras, a type of French pate, is made from the fattened livers of ducks or geese, who are force fed. Animal rights activists behind the ban call the use of tubes to force feed the animals inhumane and say foie gras is cruel.
“I think the sales ban will take many NYC residents by surprise,” said attorney Edward Phillips, who is representing the farms in the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit. “The pandemic started shortly after the City Council enacted Local Law 202 in late 2019. Understandably, memories of this misguided law will have faded by now.”
The farms will be forced to lay off hundreds of workers if the ban goes into effect, according to court papers.
Moreira, whose restaurant is set to reopen in July after a renovation, said chefs are pleading for pate.
“Of course everybody’s very curious about what’s going to happen, especially the chefs,” Moreira said. “We’re hoping this is going to be reversed. We have a few months still.”
“I think people love that it’s delicate, it’s rich, it’s incomparable in the way of texture and flavor,” said Daniel Boulud, the famed restaurateur who operates seven eateries in Manhattan, including the Michelin-starred Daniel on East 65th. He noted chickens and cows also undergo “supervised feeding.”
The restaurateurs said they’re waiting to see if the ban actually comes to fruition. The state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which found in an early opinion the ban would violate state law, said it’s still reviewing the ban and could put the brakes on it.
A spokesperson for City Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, who sponsored the legislation, didn’t respond to a message from The Post.
“Foie gras has been a delicacy for thousands of years,” said Boulud. “There’s bigger issues in America to worry about than foie gras.”
