Grub Street is reporting that the Animal Protection & Rescue League (the group who protested outside NYC's Momofuku Noodle Bar last year, aka The Pate Police) has targeted Bill Telepan for his use of foie gras and plans to picket his restaurant on March 27th. While foie is sometimes found on his menu-his foie gras filled donuts are a favorite of mine-he's a pretty unlikely target for this sort of protest. He recently won an
award from Animal Welfare Approved for switching to grass fed beef, he's working with the school system to provide
hormone free milk to kids, and he's been a pioneer in the push to source responsible food products in our industry.
Animal Protection & Rescue League organizer Bryan Pease feels differently. “If there’s a business that professes to care about animal welfare and more ethical food practices but is also serving foie gras, it’s almost worse than a restaurant that says they just don’t care. If [Bill Telepan] has taken that stance [about foie gras], it’s not just a matter of being hypocritical but it’s providing more legitimacy to this practice of force feeding and making it seem like it fits in with free range and organic and all these other values.”
The police will be there to "make sure [protesters] don’t destroy the place.”