So last nights shenanigans are hitting me hard. I don't know if was the 12 different Foie dishes I tried or the mix or beer, champagne, wine, tequila, Rye whisky and absinthe but today was kind of rough. I think I'm going to abstain from foie for awhile but is was pretty delicious. I'm going to post a summary and photos later but let it be said that the foie at Bistot La Minette was out of this world.
As an edition to this post I'm going to include a copy of an email I received that was a response to an open invite to Foie gras week. Here it is:
" Hi there,
Just stumbled on your Craigslist ad by doing a search for "vegan" in community; like yourself, looking for like-minded individuals who might be interested in similar culinary pleasures. Please understand, this is by no means hate mail, nor an attempt at conversion, just my natural response to your post, and possibly to allow your view of vegans to change...? We're not all whackados, and although I may be a bit crazy, it's not because I am or why I went vegan. I am definitely ignorant on some issues, but I am less-so with respect to how food reaches our plates, mainly due to taking an Animal Law class during law school. Don't get me wrong, before the class my favorite restaurant was Ruth's Chris, but after an information-packed semester, and, more specifically, a very sensible, well-argued speech from a learned scholar in the field, I cut out all animal products pretty much overnight. If you research and then think about the farming of animals, and, just to begin with, the ecological impact that meat-eating has on our planet, as a college-educated individual, you must be at least a little alarmed. I won't get into the ethical arguments, especially with respect to foie gras, but, just as an observation, your ad comes off as defensive, and you seem judgmental of others, even as you ask not to be judged. If you do a quick Google of "why be vegan" or "reasons to be vegan", you'll find some pretty rational, non-propoganda-ish, well-reasoned, scientifically-backed information about the good of it. Of course, you may not be willing to give up meat, and most people, men in particular, find the idea tough to chew. Sorry for the (vegan) cheezy pun. In any case, I hope you have a fabulous day!"
Let me say that I truly appreciate the tone of this letter. Why can't the people who comment on the message boards plead their case like this? It's a rational, well thought out response. And I will admit that, while I have nothing against vegans, I do have a bit of a bias because most of the time I find them on the other end of a bullhorn. For me, I believe that no one has the right to tell anyone else how they should eat. If you view eggs as chicken abortions and think eating them is a vile practice, don's eat them. But don't tell others how to live their lives. That's all.
