I live right near by Salt and saw these protestors one night while I was driving home. I don't get it? Is Salt the ONLY restaurant in town serving Foie Gras? I can only guess the 'controversy' is that they fatten the ducks up to get good foie gras (I've never eaten it myself... just watch a lot of Food Network!) But it seems a random thing and even more random restaurant to protest. Don't turkey farmers do the same thing for our gigantic Thanksgiving birds? Why target them? Jane and her son have done more positive things in that neighborhood than negative, that's for sure.

An Anti Foie Gras protest, no doubt the participants are taking time out of their busy schedules of drum circles and Kucinich rallies.

It is pretty awful "how" they fatten up ducks but it's Jason's choice to sell a legal food product!

We were just their last night. We love this place. The protestors have not hurt this restaurant they just are extremely annoing. Why don't these people picket the big places... like Charlestons

Or better yet, why don't all of the neo-puritans in this county quit trying to tell the rest of us what we can eat, whether that be foie gras, trans fats or raw milk.

"It is pretty awful "how" they fatten up ducks but it's Jason's choice to sell a legal food product!"

Just as it is the protestors' rights to speak against it. As a vegan I do find it peculiar in some sense to single out foie but please educate yourselves as to how it is produced before you dismiss the concern.

I suppose this is thee in vogue carnivorous thing to protest these days? The oxymorons are at it again!

Can someone please clue me in to what exactly foie gras is ?????

Good question. I should have said: Fattened duck or goose liver.

The protesters target Foie gras because it is a tiny industry, two producers in this country. Beef and veal are BIG business. So are chickens and turkey, pork as well. If I had a choice of being a duck in upstate New York or a chicken on the Eastern Shore I'd choose to be a duck. Almost 300 people were killed in Baltimore this year and these folks stand outside Salt to protest liver. Spend that time at a soup kitchen!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABeWlY0KFv8
Bourdain vists a foie gras farm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IWN8UGDyC0&

I found above to be cruel and it opened my eyes. Not every farm does it the same.

The link from Bourdain's visit to Hudson Valley Foie Gras is much more realistic than the video posted by Eric.

While it is true that every farm is different, it is also true that treating animals poorly creates bad product, which is bad for business. Some farms pay their feeders a bonus based on the quantity of ducks they bring to the final stage. This encourages feeders to treat the ducks with kindness and care.

For those who've seen videos which seem to show animal cruelty, I suggest people check out http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsC7.htm for an article on Animal "Snuff" Films. These films are often faked, exaggerated, and taken out of context to fool an unsuspecting audience.

Also, to learn about the scientific eveidence on the animal welfare aspects of foie gras production, check out the links at http://legalfoiegras.blogspot.com/ .

I agree Lizzie, and I would like to think that I am smart consumer. I just found that disturbing (whether realistic or not) video link from the same page in YouTube as the Bourdain video. Nevertheless, it still made me think. I guess I would rather be Kobe beef getting a massage while on a diet that includes sake and beer! I will surely die a happy cow :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobe_beef

Britney taught me a very important lesson in 2007 - that any publicity is good publicity. Salt is the Britney of 2008! Loves it.

I've had my locks super glued my front window shot out with a pelet gun and we recieve about 30-50 hang up calls when ever they protest. Comparing me or Salt to a pop tart is crazy.

Misunderstanding or miscommunicatrion Chef Ambrose - a lot of people are coming to Salt's defense and I was simply emphasizing that the blog discussion may actually be for Salt's benefit. Looks like now that some know you offer foie gras, they'll be headed to your restaurant whether it's for the anti-anti-foie gras dinner or not.

"A taste for irony has kept more hearts from breaking than a sense of humor, for it takes irony to appreciate the joke which is on oneself." Jessamyn West

Jason, why dont you open your mind and talk us. Stop hiding behind your mother. It is not personal, it is about compassion for animals.

Just because Foie Gras is legal, does not make it moraly acceptable. Chicago has banned it, California has an upcoming ban on it. There is obviosly something wrong with it.

Brian, If I go spend time in a soup kitchen, is that going to lower the murder rate in this city. Apparently that is your solution. I see now why you are not the Police Commissioner. By the way, what cause are you currently an activist for?

Dear ignorant diner, foie gras is the deseased liver of a hybrid duck or goose. It is produced by forcing a steel pipe down their throats and force feeding them so their livers become 12 times their normal size. Thus becoming deseased.There are only two farms in the country and they both produce it the same way.

Name calling is not necessary and makes people much less likely to actually listen to what you have to say.

You do not persuade people to your way of thinking but treating them in a hostile or disrespectful manner.

Foie Gras is a part of our culinary history. The EU has officially protected it as a heritage food, which means the French will be making it for years to come. Viva La France!

I understand how foie gras is made, and I have no problem with it. What I do have a problem with is those people who are forcing their beliefs on others, whether that be in a legal manner as with the Chicago ban or in an economic manner as with the protest at Salt.

David, I'm curious, what exactly are we allowed to eat? I'm guessing your not a fan of veal, beef, chicken, turkey, pork or fish. So, with your kind permission is macaroni and cheese acceptable? Could you provide weekly approved menus?

Robert (the single one), I quickly realized why you are single. You can eat anything you like. All I ask is that you consider the suffering and cruelty that you support while feeding yourself. Let me know when your free and I will come over, jam a four inch steel pipe down your throat and pump ten pounds of slop into your gut three times a day until your liver becomes the size of a basketball. Only then will you realize the pain and suffering envolved in the production of foie gras.

Gee, isn't the word you're thinking of "deceased" and not "deseased"? Or were you thinking "diseased?

Either way David, your comments demonstrate an utter lack of ignorance on how foie gras is produced in North America - specifically from Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York State.

My suggestion to you is to gather your fellow "foie gras haters" and visit Hudson Valley Foie Gras. Take a road trip. Get out of town for a day or two. Tour their facilities. Report back on their living conditions and how healthy (or unhealthy).

It's about time you saw these "atrocities" with your own eyes, rather than some miscellaneous report from publications with an ax to grind.

Then, after you've visited Hudson Valley Foie, I suggest another trip down to the Eastern Shore to visit any number of commercial poultry farmers supplying Purdue. Ask them to visit their confinement houses and see the chickens.

Next, take a trip out to Nebraska and visit a commercial beef farm and visit their confinement pens and tour their slaughterhouses.

If you actually take the time to educate yourself, I think you'll find a lot more to be outraged about rather than foie gras.