1 North Belmont - Forbidden Foods & The Politics Of Eating - Foie Gras

A couple of weeks ago M and I got ourselves a toddler-sitter and did a very rare thing, dinner out alone. The occasion was V-Day, although we selected the Saturday after to avoid the disaster that is eating in a restaurant on Valentine's Day. We arrived a little before our 8 o'clock reservation and saddled up to the bar for an aperitif (10 martini for me, Grey Goose Cosmo for M). The dining room was full, not hard since the kitchen is actually larger than the dining area, but the noise level was hushed with most of the discussion we could hear being praise for this dish or that.

To get things started at the table we ordered two bottle of wine. Domaines Schlumberger, Riesling Les Princes Abbés, 2004 (good but not especially memorable), for the white and Chateau de Beaucastel, Chateauneuf du Pape, 2003 (absolutely fabulous), for the red. Two glasses of Sauturnes were also ordered for the first course.... yes, foie gras... but we'll come back to that later.

Second apps were a cocktail of poached lobster and crabmeat with just a little citrus. Refreshing and complimented by the Riesling.

For entrees M had the entrecote (NY strip) in a green peppercorn sauce while I had the pistachio crusted rack of lamb. Both were excellent, tender a flavourful, but be warned... They cook in the French style at 1NB, I had forgotten this and had ordered my lamb medium rare. What came out was a bit overdone. If memory serves classical French meat temps are slightly different than what we get here and I should have ordered rare just as northerners used to do when they traveled to the southern US. I was just a bit tempted to send it back but one bite changed my mind. The red wine, which had been decanted and breathing for nearly an hour had opened up perfectly and was fantastic.

Our next stop was for the cheese course. I had a craving for morbier (a wonderful cheese made from the morning milking on the bottom and the evening milking on top with a layer of ash in between) but they didn't have any, whiny moment on my part.... We had the chef select for us and it was wonderful. I would tell you which one's we had but I was a bit wine-addled at that point and can't recall the specific varieties...

To finish was a Grand Marnier Souffle, light and foamy, an excellent ending. To add to this I had an enormous snifter of heated Grand Marnier. Sometimes I am tempted to get the special edition Grand Marnier's (at special edition prices....) but have sworn M to stop me as my taste buds are usually fried at this point of the meal and I might as well be throwing dollar bills out the window.

Service was excellent throughout and once the main rush of the evening was over they paused to chat about dishes and food related things. The price.... bring an extra credit card or your no-limit Amex.

Now, back to the foie gras. The portions here were generous. The liver smooth (better than our last visit to LeMaire). The cherry gastrique was a perfect, adding tang without too much sweet. Whenever M and I see foie gras on the menu we order it and have even served it at home. Dogwood Grille used to always have a foie appetizer on special that was wonderful, except for the Mexican themed atrocity they served us once...

Many people have issues with foie gras and it's production. Having been to farms I know all our meat production involves quite a bit of cruelty, especially in the large corporate operations. We must also be careful not to over-anthromorphise animals too much though. Having a feeding tube shoved down your throat will hurt but have you ever seen a seagull eat an entire hotdog? Different anatomy at work here.

I see the pictures used by the animal rights groups as no different than those used by the anti-abortion groups. Horrible, but skewed for a specific agenda. PETA says they are force fed 4 pounds a day, the foie industry says it 250 grams and takes less than 30 seconds. The back and forth can go on forever. People are going to continue to eat foie regardless so the goal should not be a ban but to make it as humane as possible. Limited production has started on 'free-range' goose foie that takes advantage of their normal eating cycles.

If one is going to eat meat in this day and age then you must always remember that some creature gave his life for your nourishment and enjoyment. I'll get off my soapbox now, until we talk next about veal or caviar....