Foie gras purveyor fined

Foie gras purveyor fined

By Jason Meisner
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 29, 2007, 11:59 AM CDT
A self-described "encased meat" specialist copped a plea today and became the first person fined under the Chicago ordinance banning the sale of foie gras.

An attorney for Doug Sohn, owner of Hot Doug's eatery in the 3300 block of North California Avenue, met this morning with a city hearing officer, who agreed to levy the minimum fine of $250 as it was a first offense, said Tim Hadac, spokesman for the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Sohn, who did not appear at the hearing, could have faced a fine of up to $500 under the ordinance, which took effect Aug. 22, Hadac said.

Hot Doug's, which Sohn describes as a "sausage superstore and encased meat emporium," was the scene of the city's first foie gras bust on Feb. 16, when city health inspectors found him openly offering hot dogs laced with the fattened duck-liver delicacy and confiscated the product.

It came as a surprise to no one. Sohn had been itching for a fight ever since the City Council overrode Mayor Richard Daley's veto and enacted what the mayor derided as the "silliest law that they've ever passed."

Sohn was issued a warning several months before being slapped with the citation, but he stood his ground, continuing to advertise foie gras ingredients on his Web site and on a board hung boldly near his front door.

The letter that the city sent him warning of possible punishment? Sohn framed it and set it beside the cash register.

"I was poking the grizzly bear, and it snapped my head off," Sohn told the Tribune in February. He could not immediately be reached for comment this morning.

The list of daily specials on Hot Doug's Web site today had several exotic offerings, including smoked alligator sausage with cajun shrimp mayonnaise and a duck sausage with citrus mustard. Foie gras was nowhere to be found.

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