A French chef in San Francisco said Tuesday he had come under attack from radical animal rights activists protesting against his dishes using foie gras, a delicacy of fattened goose and duck liver. In recent weeks the activists have vandalised the home and car of Laurent Manrique, the head chef of top San Francisco restaurant Aqua, and sent him threatening letters and videotapes over his signature dishes, he claimed. Last week vandals cemented water pipes and spray painted the walls red in a new shop Manrique was building in Sonoma, north of San Francisco, to sell his foie gras and other culinary specialties.
Activists sent letters telling him to "stop or be stopped" while vandals used acid to cut scratches on his car and home windows, and damaged a statue, he said. "This is the action of terrorists," Manrique said. "I respect people who have a different opinion. But using violence isn’t the answer. "Foie gras has been eaten for 5,000 years, and after me there will be a lot of chefs doing foie gras." Police said similar acts had been carried out against Manrique’s partners, who include Sonoma Foie Gras, one of the country’s largest producers of fattened duck livers. Damages were estimated at more than $50,000. Police have no suspects yet, and no one has claimed responsibility, said Sonoma police chief John Gurney. Because of the use of threats and intimidation in the case, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s terrorist unit has joined the investigation. "This is an act of terrorism by definition," said Gurney. |