[Vision2020] West of Paris

Thu Aug 24 12:10:13 PDT 2006

I don't know the owner of West of Paris, so this is not an allegation, but a 
caution.

Although certain items are not available on the menu of a restaurant does 
not mean they are not available at the restaurant.  For years, for example, 
it was against the law (and may still be) to serve wild game/horsemeat/cat 
meat/etc at restaurants.  Although such items were not on the menu, they 
were available, sometimes to select customers, sometimes to all, at certain 
restaurants.

Perhaps it is just the Daily News -- but I have a high regard for Alexis 
Bacharach's reporting accuracy -- but there seem to be a some 
inconsistencies in the West of Paris owner's statements in the news article 
which did not inspire confidence in me in his value for the truth.

West of Paris faces major challenges to succeed:

First, the owner's visible, vocal, strong membership and association with a 
sexist, homophobic, racist, anti-secular, crackpot religious cult whose 
cultmaster and some members are certainly not known for their honesty but 
for eating out of the public trough without paying their share means that 
some proportion of the local population will not choose to eat at West of 
Paris -- these abstainers understandably do not wish any of their money to 
go to support the doctrines, activities, and flimflam of the cult.

Second, the foie gras controversy, the reaction of the owner to such, and 
the reactions/comments of some cult members about such have alienated other 
potential customers.

Third, high priced meals, even if they might be of high quality, further 
restrict the potential customer base.

Hence, if West of Paris makes foie gras available to select customers even 
though it is no longer on the menu, I would expect that such potential 
dishonesty (if it happens, and becomes public) will reduce the potential 
customer base even further.

How many potential customers can a business consider throw-aways and still 
succeed in the very competitive local restaurant business?

Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
deco at moscow.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "J Ford" <privatejf32 at hotmail.com>
To: <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] West of Paris

> First of all, it is is not ***Moscow*** showing an interest in anything,
> especially when 'tis kirkers doing the selling and kirkers doing the 
> buying.
>
> Second, "we almost sold out our first night."
>
> is translated as "we sold a bit of it to our friends and numerous family
> members and ended up throwing the rest out due to spoilage reasons."
>
> Third, "The people complaining about foie gras have a point.  The way the
> birds are being stuffed is questionable, and I do believe it's important 
> to
> treat animals humanely. I will put foie gras on my menu again when I find 
> a
> producer that doesn't engage in force feeding"
>
> is translated as "They complain, but so what?  Can they prove what they 
> say?
>  I will do what I want - its my restaurant."
>
> Fourth, "This is a group that was looking for something to use against my
> business and they found something," he said. "While I believe there are 
> some
> valid concerns here, I'm not going to stop serving what people want. I 
> will
> put foie gras on my menu again"
>
> is translated as "THEY are all against me.  This is religious persecution
> and I will not cave - well, ok I am for now, but I WILL BE BACK."
>
> Geez, why bother taking it off the menu if all you're doing is waiting for
> the next shipment and hoping people outside yer church donnae find out you
> got it?  How disingenuous can you get?
>
>
> J  :]
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: "Saundra Lund" <sslund at adelphia.net>
>>To: "'Megan Prusynski'" <megan at meganpru.com>, <vision2020 at moscow.com>
>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] West of Paris
>>Date: Wed, 23 Aug 2006 17:55:57 -0700
>>
>>Hi Megan & Visionaries:
>>
>>The following article is from today's Daily News and seems to paint a
>>slightly different picture.  In particular, I take exception with Mr.
>>Foucachon's statement, "He wants local activists, who got their hands on 
>>an
>>outdated menu earlier this week, to know their threats of protest mean
>>nothing to him or his staff."
>>
>>The "outdated" menu came directly from West of Paris' Web site the very 
>>day
>>I posted my concerns, not from some nefarious source.  And, we know from
>>Mr.
>>Foucachon's comments right here on the Viz that he was aware of the
>>inhumanity of the product *before* he included it on West of Paris' menu
>>:-(((
>>
>>Anyway, here's the article:
>>
>>"Foie gras controversy hits Moscow
>>Activists up in arms over delicacy's inclusion on restaurant menu; item 
>>has
>>since been removed
>>
>>By Alexis Bacharach Daily News staff writer
>>Published: 08-23-2006
>>
>>Foie gras is no longer available at Moscow's West of Paris, but not for 
>>the
>>reasons one might think.
>>
>>Restaurant owner Francis Foucachon sold out of the item his first week in
>>business.
>>
>>He wants local activists, who got their hands on an outdated menu earlier
>>this week, to know their threats of protest mean nothing to him or his
>>staff.
>>
>>"Here is the bottom line," he said. "I ordered a small amount just to see
>>if
>>there was a demand in Moscow. It was such a huge success, we almost sold
>>out
>>our first night."
>>
>>Foie gras, French for fatty liver, is produced through a process of
>>force-feeding ducks and geese until their livers become saturated with 
>>fat.
>>
>>Handlers insert tubes down the birds' throats and funnel pounds of 
>>cornmeal
>>into their stomachs several times a day.
>>
>>Megan Prusynski, a local activist with People for the Ethical Treatment of
>>Animals and the Humane Society of the United States, said consumption of
>>foie gras went down in areas that provided focused education and outreach
>>programs.
>>
>>With that in mind, she's teaming with local and national groups, including
>>Compassion Speaks at Washington State University, to organize protests in
>>Friendship Square later this month.
>>
>>"There are still a lot of people out there who don't know what foie gras 
>>is
>>or how it's made," she said. "When I heard there was a restaurant in 
>>Moscow
>>serving it, I started talking to people about doing some kind of protest 
>>to
>>raise people's awareness - maybe get it banned."
>>
>>More than a dozen countries, including Israel, Germany, the United 
>>Kingdom,
>>Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy, Poland and Denmark, have
>>outlawed the French delicacy.
>>
>>In the United States, lawmakers are proposing bans at the state and
>>municipal levels.
>>
>>The California Legislature passed a phased ban last year on the production
>>and sale of foie gras. Earlier this month, city leaders in Chicago banned
>>the controversial item from all menus in the city.
>>
>>"The people complaining about foie gras have a point," Foucachon said. 
>>"The
>>way the birds are being stuffed is questionable, and I do believe it's
>>important to treat animals humanely. I will put foie gras on my menu again
>>when I find a producer that doesn't engage in force feeding."
>>
>>PETA spokesman Matt Prescott said that's a victory for animal rights,
>>because Foucachon will never find what he's looking for.
>>
>>"There are producers in the industry who say their foie gras is produced
>>humanely, but such claims are unsubstantiated," he said. "Investigations 
>>at
>>every foie gras farm has uncovered incidents of sick, dead and abused
>>animals. We've seen birds with holes in their throats and bloody beaks.
>>We've seen farms where dead birds were dangling from wires, dripping blood
>>on the live birds."
>>
>>Video footage and photo galleries on PETA's Web site provide images of
>>birds
>>with gaping wounds, images of blood-soaked cages and buckets full of
>>feathered corpses.
>>
>>"No animal should be subject to torture," Foucachon said. "But these 
>>things
>>they're complaining about, I would suggest American chickens are treated
>>far
>>worse than the ducks and the geese. Why aren't people writing letters and
>>staging protests at the grocery stores and restaurants that sell chicken?"
>>
>>Why stop there, he asked?
>>
>>Foucachon suggested protests against restaurants that cook live lobsters.
>>
>>"This is a group that was looking for something to use against my business
>>and they found something," he said. "While I believe there are some valid
>>concerns here, I'm not going to stop serving what people want. I will put
>>foie gras on my menu again."
>>
>>Alexis Bacharach can be reached at (208) 882-5561, ext. 238, or by e-mail
>>at
>>abacharach at dnews.com "
>>________
>>
>>A Very Disappointed Saundra Lund
>>Moscow, ID
>>
>>The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do
>>nothing.
>>- Edmund Burke
>>
>>***** Original material contained herein is Copyright 2006, Saundra Lund.
>>Do not copy, forward, excerpt, or reproduce outside the Vision 2020 forum
>>without the express written permission of the author.*****
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
>>On Behalf Of Megan Prusynski
>>Sent: Wednesday, August 23, 2006 11:55 AM
>>To: vision2020 at moscow.com
>>Subject: Re: [Vision2020] West of Paris
>>
>>I also wanted to give you all an update on West of Paris and the foie gras
>>issue. Mr. Foucachon has decided to take foie gras off the menu and I 
>>would
>>like to congratulate and thank him for making the compassionate choice.
>>Hopefully his kind actions can be a way to educate people about just what
>>goes into foie gras production and how cruel it is. Thanks very much, Mr.
>>Foucachon and West of Paris. :)
>>
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