Txoko Starts Dishing Out Free Foie Gras Tomorrow

Since the foie gras ban began a month ago, there have been duckeasies, loopholes, and now Txoko is the first San Francisco restaurant to offer free foie gras to guests. It's only illegal to sell foie gras in California, so giving it away for free is one way restaurants can legally serve it. Starting tomorrow, "Free Foie Wednesdays" begin at Txoko. The first 25 people in the door will get a ticket for a free foie gras pintxo: " a foie gras torchon, with macerated prunes and wild rocket on a slice of Acme baguette." Owners Ryan Maxey and chef Ian Begg say this particular foie gras was purchased legally before the ban, and they'll continue the Wednesday foie offer for as long as they can.

Begg will also prepare foie gras for customers who bring their own, but he won't be charging a flat rate to do so. Maxey explains: "We'll charge according to how many people it's for, what's in season, etc, etc. It will be very reasonable, as we are just looking to charge for our ingredients, not the guest's foie. We want to encourage people to do this, so we want to emphasize that it's not a huge fee."

· Txoko Begins Free Foie Gras Wednesdays [ISSF]
· All Txoko Coverage [~ ESF ~]