Don’t mess with the Irish
Posted on April 4, 2009, by Conor O'Neill, under Food, Politics.
I was enraged on Thursday whilst listening to the latest Restaurant Guys’ podcast. They were interviewing a New York restaurateur who is being picketed by fois gras protestors. These ugg-boot-wearing idiots think they can intimidate a small business owner and effectively put him out of business. These cowards don’t have the balls to go after large fast-food chains who sell industrially produced chicken and figure they’ll go for easy marks instead.
Unfortunately for these hypocrites, this restaurant owner is Irish and (like the rest of us) he doesn’t like people telling him what to do. I was then thrilled to discover who he was. The restaurant is Knife + Fork and he is Damien Brasel. He was made head chef in Peacock Alley in Dublin at the age of 20! Two of my top ten meals of all time were in Peacock Alley in its heyday before it all went pear-shaped.
His response to these lazy cause-of-the-week nitwits? Put a fois gras tasting menu on! The outcome? His business has improved. Result 
If you are in New York and wondering where to eat, can I recommend you try Knife + Fork? Bring some chicken nuggets with you to throw at the wastes-of-oxygen picketing outside at the weekend.
3 Replies to "Don’t mess with the Irish"
Bern on April 5, 2009
sorry, Conor, have to disagree with you on this one.
No matter how good it may taste, I challenge you to watch this 5 min video to the end.
Conor O'Neill on April 5, 2009
Hey Bernard, glad you dropped by.
I watched the video all the way. I see no difference between the factory production of fois gras and chicken. I dislike both, as pointed out above. Lots more chickens suffer every year than ducks. How about an anti-turkey campaign?
However there is far too much anthropomorphism in the video and lots of anatomically/physiologically inaccurate statements. And shock horror, you do have to kill animals to eat them.
The alternative: http://www.frenchentree.com/france-food-cuisine/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=2361
Gavan, The H.I. on April 4, 2009
I heard this podcast. There’s no way he’ll back down which is great. I worked in P. Alley for a bit but don’t remember this guy. There was a lot of talented guys working there for sure. As you said these ‘activists’ pick on the small guy but can’t intimidate the larger restaurants. Good on him.