By Sarah Halberstadt

Doug Sohn defied Chicago's foie gras ban, then paid the price; ZAGAT.com caught up with him after his March 29th court date.

At 6:15 AM on Friday, February 16th, Doug Sohn of Hot Doug's Sausage Superstore and Encased Meats Emporium in Chicago updated the daily specials on his Web site to include a Sauternes-and-foie-gras duck sausage for $7. By 10 AM, health department officials were impounding his foie gras, wrapping it in official tape labeled "do not remove" and placing it in his deep freeze as evidence. Sohn, an outspoken critic of Chicago's recent ban on foie gras, had received a prior warning, which he framed and hung above his counter, for selling the outlawed duck liver in his restaurant. His second violation resulted in a March 29th court hearing.

Last August, Chicago became the first U.S. city to prohibit the sale of foie gras as a result of claims that force-feeding ducks and geese is inhumane, following a similar move by the state of California, whose ban will go into effect in 2012; European countries such as Italy and Germany have also outlawed its production. We spoke with Sohn the day after his court date – which resulted in a $250 fine – about the ban, a chef's responsibility to animal rights and the future of foie gras.

ZS: You have been one of the more outspoken critics of the ban. Why?
Sohn: Foie gras is just not that big of a deal. I don't think it's the job of the city council to decide what we can and cannot eat. It's just a big waste of time, energy and resources. There are much more egregious crimes in and out of the food industry.

ZS: Foie gras is normally served in the most upscale restaurants. Why do you think Hot Doug's got busted before higher-end establishments?
Sohn: At most places it is so expensive that it affects a very small number of people. We sell it for an affordable price, which makes us an easy target and a good story.

ZS: Reading descriptions of the force-feeding process is enough to make even the most ardent meat eaters cringe. Have you ever visited or seen footage of a foie gras farm?
Sohn: Yes, I've been to foie gras farms, hog and cattle farms and slaughterhouses. The animal production process is not pretty. But the information coming from the animal rights organizations is one-sided. If you go to a place like France, where the production of foie gras is much more artisanal, it's a lot more humane than, say, a hog farm in the U.S. If people saw the way hogs were farmed, they'd probably never eat another pork chop. It's hypocritical to focus on foie gras, to make a distinction between how foie gras is produced and, for example, how eggs are produced. It's an easy target because it's expensive and it's not on a lot of menus. It makes people feel good without having a very large effect on the larger problems of the industry.

ZS: By taking foie gras off their menus, chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Charlie Trotter are taking a stand on the responsibility of chefs to regulate what is served in their restaurants. As a restaurant owner, do you set any personal standards for the treatment of the animal products you sell?
Sohn: Wolfgang Puck, if he wants to do that, God bless him. I respect them both even if Puck is still serving things like caviar that animal rights organizations have on "do not eat" lists. Trotter I respect because he's against foie gras, but he's also against the ban. He thinks people should be able to make their own choices. Look, we eat animals like they are commodities, so it doesn't make sense to be drawing these moral lines. Of course, it's not all dollars and cents. I try to get better products when I can because my major concern is the quality of the food. At the same time, you can't deny that this is a commercial business and there is a cost aspect as well. Organic and free-range products can be prohibitively expensive.

ZS: Chicago recently banned smoking inside restaurants and is considering a ban on trans fat. Do you think all of these bans are an infringement on restaurateur and consumer choice?
Sohn: The trans fat ban to me is attacking a minor issue. It's a Band-Aid on a much larger problem. If you want to get rid of problems with obesity, then get rid of poverty. Smoking is different. If you want to sit down next to me and eat a big bowl of trans fat, then that's fine with me, because it's not affecting me. But smoking is a different story because it affects other diners and, more importantly, the employees that are exposed to secondhand smoke everyday.

ZS: What are you going to do with the impounded foie gras in your freezer?
Sohn: Now that we've paid the fine, the health department is going to come and take the sticker off. Once they do that, we're going to throw it away. It's not worth the headache.

ZS: Will you continue to sell foie gras in your restaurant?
Sohn: No. It's not worth it to risk getting shut down. And more than that, the livelihood of my employees is at stake. If the restaurant closes, they are all out of jobs.

ZS: Immediately after receiving the citation you closed Hot Doug's and went on a vacation in France, where a law designating foie gras part of French cultural heritage was recently passed, protecting it from the type of ban Chicago has adopted. Did being in the home of foie gras strengthen your resolve?
Sohn: Yes. I ate foie gras like it was legal!

ZS: With many countries in Europe, as well as the state of California, banning foie gras, do you think it's inevitable that it will become a dying delicacy in the U.S.?
Sohn: That would be too bad. I would spend a lot more time in France.