Chez TJ Pushes the Envelope: Serving "Complimentary" Foie Gras

Chez TJ's decision to "gift away" foie gras is racking up reservations...and hate mail.

By Meesha Halm

While maverick restaurateurs like Ray Tang at the Presidio Supper Club are gearing up to test the waters to see if the loophole of being on federal land exempts them from the statewide ban on foie gras (which, if were the case, could open the door to other restaurants situated on federally owned land such as Dixie, the Cliff House, Murray Circle and the Ahwahnee Dining Room - though not all of them have indicated that they want to do so), a plucky young chef in the South Bay has already gone ahead and taken a different tact to work around the new law - giving it away for free as part of the restaurant’s tasting menu. (According to an old menu, the course used to be offered for a $15 supplemental fee.)
Under 30 chef Joey Elenterio has decided to jump on the “I’m-not-selling-it”/“it’s-a-gift-from-the-chef “plea that many Chicago chefs employed during their city’s short-lived ban of foie gras. As Elenterio, the chef of Chez TJ of Mountain View explains, the complimentary tasting of foie is coming from a previously purchased stash of liver that he got before the ban was in place, and that if necessary, he plans to replenish his supply legally from a purveyor in Nevada. Elenterio’s move and other acts of defiance from Bay Area chefs made the ABC News. Check out the whole video here.

Of course, when it come to foie gras, the two opposing camps don’t see eye to eye on anything. One side claims legal rights, the other moral rights. Where do you fall on the issue? Should foie gras be illegal in California when it’s legal elsewhere in the country? Tell us in the comments.

Photo: Twitter @jelenterio