Recently, two Orange County restaurants -- Arc and The Broadway -- were threatened with lawsuits by PETA for their serving of foie gras. The fattened goose livers have become quite the political issue amongst food lovers, chefs, and animal rights activists since they were banned last summer, and some, like chefs Noah Blom and Amar Santana of the two OC restos, decided to gift foie regardless of the law.
However, last week Hudson Valley Foie Gras' accounts were hacked, and the personal information of 1,200 of those who purchase foie gras was released online. Santana, who is the chef at the Broadway in Laguna Beach, was repeatedly harassed by incensed animal rights activists after his phone number was listed, along with his address and credit card information on the North American Animal Liberation Press Office website.
The L.A. Times reported on the story, and spoke to Santana:
"I knew they [the animal rights contingent] were brutal, but I didn't know they were so big and powerful," Santana said. "It's crazy to me. If I want to eat foie gras, let me eat it. It's not their business."
Federal and state authorities are investigating [just who did the hacking], said Marcus Henley, Hudson Valley's operations manager.
"I hope they're found because they performed a serious criminal act," he said. "We can have arguments and discussions, but when you step outside of a democratic process and go and intimidate people, attack and release people's personal information, those are principle issues. It's not the American way."
Santana has since stopped serving foie. So for foie lovers, at least for now, it's
Reno or bust.
