Our NYE was what I’d hoped it would be: a fancy dinner, a very entertaining show, and then hanging out at a friendly local bar waiting for 2006 with my husband and two good friends.
We started at the Grand Cafe downtown and had their 3-course prix fixe menu. I decided to have a taste of foie gras. People have told me that it’s one of the finest French delicacies there is. People have told me it is acquired through cruelly force-feeding geese. After eating some of it, I doubt I will having it again. It just tasted like a big mouthful of butter. Yuck. Well, at least I can say I’ve tried it. I suppose the next thing for me to try is caviar; never had that either. Fish eggs!
The rest of dinner was great. This accordian player kept coming around with two “can-can” girls. It was slightly annoying, but they didn’t linger at our table. The dining room used to be a ballroom, and it was indeed quite grand.
So after that, we walked to the theatre for the Kathy Griffin show. The room was much, much smaller than I had imagined it would be, and we had excellent seats. She was hilarious as usual. Love her.
The show got over at around 9:45 and we opted to leave downtown ASAP as things were starting to get crowded and stupid. Thankfully there was no sign of rain.
We took the N-Judah back to our ‘hood and decided to try out the Black Thorn bar. Unfortunately it was filled with drunk bimbos and other obnoxious types, including the horrible band playing awful covers in the back. We regretted ordering our drinks and stood there drinking morosely near the exit as there was no place to sit anywhere. This girl standing about six feet away from me was wearing one of those drapey satin halter tops with no bra, and she managed to lean over a couple times to give everyone a very clear view of her tits. Nice one, Tara Reid.
So we beat it out of there. Decided to try out the Mucky Duck, a small local sports bar on 9th. Amazingly, it was fairly empty, and they had a jukebox and pool table. We got a good table for the four of us right away, ordered drinks, got free popcorn, and had a great time there until 1am. It was such a friendly place. They gave out free champagne at midnight, party hats and noisemakers, and everyone was very nice and “real” if that makes sense. Even the bathroom was clean. I was sold on it. The bar was decorated with SF Giants pictures and banners, so I’ll probably go back there for a game this season, why not.
Then Brian and I stumbled home (well, I guess he was sober, but I wasn’t) and fell into bed, already not feeling so awesome. This morning I got up at 10, made a big pot of coffee, had a piece of toast, and started my period. It’s New Year’s Day, so I have got to make the best of it, right? So I will.
It is very, very unlikely that what you had was real foie gras, as importation or creation of real foie gras is illegal in this county. You probably had some crap imitation.
No, it was real foie gras, I assure, you. Also, foie gras is perfectly legal in the United States. There is a pending California ban that would not take effect until 2012, but aside from that, it is certainly legal here. What I ate looked exactly like the pink disc pictured on this site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foie_gras
“California and New York are currently the only US states with foie gras industries.”
Huh, wierd. I’ve only ever had it basically smuggled in from Haiti (when I was in Florida), and the hosts told me that it was because it was banned. I wonder if it’s a state-by-state thing, which is why only NY and CA have it? I’ve never seen it on a menu in Chicago.
Anyway, too bad you didn’t like it. I think it’s amazing, although pretty horribly cruel in its manufacture. I’m not that crazy about caviar…I’ll be curious to know what you think of it.
And yet there’s an article on that Wikipedia page about controversy over foie gras sales in Chicago. Unfortunately the link is dead, so I can’t read it. I wonder if it was only recently banned? Or made legal? I DON’T KNOW
It’s definitely controversial, but as I discussed last night with my companions, veal is surely a crueler food source because of the way the calves are forced to live out their short and brutal existences confined to a small box. Foie gras geese just get to eat like pigs, and some people even say that force feeding isn’t as cruel as others say and that the birds may even grow to like it? Who knows.
I dunno, I am of the “I’ll try almost anything once” type of dining, and I have already eaten veal. No need to eat it again in light of what I know about it. And I really thought foie gras was just far too fatty, but that’s just me. I know millions of others disagree with me.
We decided that the “cruelest” food could be certain Japanese dishes that are served and eaten alive. But then again, plenty of animals are eaten alive by other animals, just a fact of nature.