The Animal Protection & Rescue League, a San Francisco-based vegan group, is slowly sinking its teeth into NYC. Last year they protested pâté purveyor David Chang of Momofuku, and now they're back with a new regional protest organizer, New School student and Blossom restaurant worker Michelle Brotman.
Up first on her agenda: a good ol' fashioned foie gras protest at Telepan on March 27th (7p.m.). Grub Street points out this is Bill Telepan's establishment, and suggests the organization is making a mistake by targeting the man "who’s trying to improve school lunches with hormone-free milk... who won a merit badge from Animal Welfare Approved, for switching to a grass-fed beef burger... [and] has long objected to practices such as the beak-clipping of turkeys and factory farming in general."
Sounds like Ms. Brotman didn't do her research! But alas, the organization's Bryan Pease stands firm, saying: “If there’s a business that professes to care about animal welfare and more ethical food practices but is also serving foie gras, it’s almost worse than a restaurant that says they just don’t care." For his part, Telepan has alerted the local police, who will come around on protest day—but does it seem a little over-reactionary to get the NYPD involved? They're just some vegans with signs!
