Bay Area chefs scramble for foie gras supply in wake of court ruling (w/video)

Foie gras has returned to California restaurants after a surprise ruling on Wednesday overturning the 2012 ban against its sale.

That is, the controversial delicacy can now be sold to diners, at least. But finding the fatty duck liver proved a nearly impossible challenge for many Bay Area chefs in the 24 hours after the dish once again became legal.

“I’m going to try to get it on my menu as soon as I can, but we probably won’t be able to get it until next week,” said Brian Anderson, owner of Santa Rosa’s Bistro 29 restaurant. Like others in the restaurant industry, he was taken by surprise when news of the ruling spread Wednesday on the Internet.

“My wife texted me. I had no idea,” he said.

“No one knew this was coming down,” said Doug Keane, the former chef at Cyrus and a vocal foie gras proponent. While briefing other chefs trying to understand the impact of the ruling on Wednesday, Keane said he offered up the three lobes he had tucked away in his freezer.

For others, however, it’s still a mad rush to get their foie gras.

“I’ve called everywhere, and we’re having a really hard time getting it,” said Daniel Kedan of Forestville’s Backyard Restaurant. He’s phoned a number of former Bay Area suppliers and even called down to Los Angeles to see if anything is available.

“It will make an appearance on our menu - eventually,” he said.

Keane and Ken Frank, chef of Napa’s La Toque, who hosted a 10-course all-foie-gras luncheon last July, acknowledged that for hardcore fans, foie gras never really went away. It just went underground, with restaurants offering the dish without charge.

“We never took it off the menu,” said Jesse Mallgren, chef at Healdsburg’s Michelin-starred Madrona Manor, who recently served up the dish on a tasting menu, offering a “gift from the chef.”

“I gave a lot of ‘gifts’ the last two years,” Mallgren said.

Chef Miriam Donaldson of Wishbone in Petaluma said she’s also served the dish as a “special” from time to time, procuring it from sources that she, like most chefs, has kept under wraps.

There are only three American producers of foie gras. Sonoma Foie Gras, which relocated outside the state, was at the heart of the California debate about the practice of force-feeding ducks to create the enlarged livers so prized by diners. The other two producers are Hudson Valley Foie Gras and La Belle Farm, both in New York state.

Animal rights activists contend that the practice of force-feeding ducks is torture, while supporters and chefs who serve the delicacy argue the practice as carried out by Sonoma Foie Gras was not harmful to the animals. Activists and state attorneys are considering appeals.

In the meantime, other Sonoma County restaurants planning to put foie gras back on the menu include:

- Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa, where owner Terri Stark said she had hoped to have the once-popular foie gras “poppers” make a return to the menu as soon as this weekend. She has pushed that date back to next week as the kitchen works to get the ingredient.

- Farmhouse Inn in Forestville. “Of course we’re putting it on the menu,” said Steve Litke, the executive chef. “A lot of our customers really miss it.”

- Chalkboard in Healdsburg, where chef Shane McAnelly plans to have it on the menu next week.

- Valette, coming soon in Healdsburg. Dustin Valette, the former Dry Creek Kitchen chef, plans to offer some of his personal stash to a small group of diners this weekend.

- Thistle Meats in Petaluma has incorporated duck livers into its pate and terrine since opening last year, using livers of non-force-fed ducks (foie) rather than foie gras (fatty duck liver). Owner Molly Best said her staff of butchers is excited to bring foie gras to customers’ terrines. But you probably won’t see duck livers in the meat case unless there is a retail demand for the lobes, Best said.

BiteClub Eats blogger Heather Irwin can be reached at heather@biteclubeats.com.