Foie Gras

They are giddy. Drunk on knowledge. High on the conceit of what they are trying to do. Finest dining, here in Fort Point — modern yet lavish, refined and formal and beyond expensive. You are in their sights, and Menton’s minions are coming for you. From the right! A woman armed with more information about the wine she will pour than anyone would ever need to know. She is grinning. She is talking perfume and acid and soil and philosophy. She is pouring liquid, golden, into your glass.

In 2004, the California Legislature gave foie gras producers seven years to find a humane way to create the duck liver delicacy without forcing food down the birds' throats. With the law set to take effect the July 1, some of the state's top chefs on Monday were attempting to overturn it. A hundred have signed a petition saying they want to keep the sale of foie gras legal and establish new regulations for raising the birds. They are visiting with their representatives trying to accomplish an uphill task: finding someone to sponsor a bill to repeal it in time.

In 2004, the California Legislature gave foie gras producers seven years to find a humane way to create the duck liver delicacy without forcing food down the birds' throats. With the law set to take effect the July 1, some of the state's top chefs on Monday were attempting to overturn it. A hundred have signed a petition saying they want to keep the sale of foie gras legal and establish new regulations for raising the birds. They are visiting with their representatives trying to accomplish an uphill task: finding someone to sponsor a bill to repeal it in time.

PICK OF THE DAY Musical mythology If a 17th-century woman composer imagined the ancient island where the twin deities of the sun and the moon came into being, what might it sound like? Hear for yourself in ‘‘The Isle of Delos: Music of Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre. " Cecilia's Circle presents the cantata along with instrumental works by Jacquet, a favorite of Louis XIV. Performers include soprano Janet Youngdahl, harpsichordist Vivian Montgomery, flutist Sarah Paysnick, and Sarah Mead on viola da gamba.

APRIL 11-25 SINGAPORE World Gourmet Summit: The 14th annual summit of chefs, wineries, hoteliers, and culinary celebrities from around the world is called Constellation of the Stars. Participants include Alex Chow of London’s Kai Mayfair, a Malaysian-born chef specializing in modern Chinese cuisine; Andrea Berton of the two-star Michelin-rated Ristorante Trussardi Alla Scala in Milan; and Michel Rostang of the restaurant named for him in Paris. The 15-day event includes master classes with chefs, lunches, workshops, wine tastings, a foie gras dinner, several formal galas, and dinners...

CHICAGO -- Five months after the city ordered restaurants to stop selling foie gras, some fancy restaurants and gourmet shops no longer offer the goose or duck liver delicacy, while others are flouting the ban, listing foie gras on their menus and, in one case, framing the city's warning letter. Evoking Chicago's Prohibition-era past, when a password could gain entry into a speakeasy, at least one restaurant is rumored to be serving foie gras to customers who ask for the "special lobster" dish.

CHICAGO -- In the city once known as the world's slaughterhouse, restaurants, politicians, and animal rights activists are getting worked up over a goose liver delicacy. A proposed ban on foie gras has divided Chicago's fine restaurants, and has led to a two-pronged debate: Is it humane to force-feed geese and ducks to plump up their livers? Should politicians be telling diners what they can and cannot eat? "Our laws are a reflection of our culture, and in our culture it's not acceptable to torture small animals," said Alderman Joseph Moore, whose proposed...

5 Napkin Burger It may look like an old-fashioned butcher shop, but this upscale Back Bay spot offers every modern variation on the burger you could dream up – beef, tuna, turkey, lamb kofta, veggie – and all between great buns. End with a glorious espresso brownie sundae or a shake in the classic conical cup. Prudential Center, Boston, 617-375-2277, www.5napkinburger.com   80 Thoreau Who needs encyclopedic menus? At this Concord restaurant, chef Carolyn Johnson offers seven appetizers, eight entrees, and five desserts.

Now and then, a star is born right before your eyes. On a Saturday night at Salts, a five-year-old restaurant recently bought by new owners, I notice all eyes trained toward a back table. A couple sat looking fondly at a bronzed whole duck being carefully carved for them by the waiter. The sight seemed to ignite sighs all around the room, along with whispered vows to order the dish the next time. Whole duck is a rarity, superseded by rare-cooked breasts and confited legs. And tableside carving is almost unheard of. We've gotten used to thinking of duck not as a sum of its parts.

STORYVILLE 90 Exeter St., Boston 617-236-1134 www.storyvilleboston.com The space formerly known as Saint was formerly known as Storyville, the '50s jazz club where Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald performed. Now the name is back, without the jazz. The new Storyville is focused instead on eating, drinking, lounging, and dancing. There is a DJ booth, and occasionally there will be live music. The establishment has been completely redone, with leather couches, ornate wallpaper, and red accents.

WHO: Michelle Corry and Liz Koenigsberg WHAT: Nine years ago, Corry and her husband, Steve, relocated from northern California to Portland, Maine, to be closer to Steve's family in Hingham. The pair opened the upscale restaurant Five Fifty-Five and, in 2007, Steve was named best new chef by Food & Wine magazine. Last year, the Corrys expanded with the French bistro Petite Jacqueline and made Koenigsberg, Five Fifty-Five's general manager, a partner. This month, the bistro was nominated for best new restaurant by the James Beard Foundation, along with three other New...

TOKYO - Wendy's Co. is adding goose-liver pate and truffles to burgers as it invests as much as $200 million on a return to Japan two years after leaving the country. The Japan Premium sandwich sells for $16 at Wendy's in Tokyo's Omotesando luxury shopping district, the first of a targeted 100 shops. "We think the fast-food market here is ready for something different," said Ernest Higa, chief executive of Wendy's Japan. The third-biggest US fast-food chain is returning to Japan under a plan to expand outside the United States, where it got 92 percent of revenue in...

We divided this New Year's Eve dining guide into three parts. Our picks for party animals show you the best places to get down, as well as chow down; you can expect good food and a lively party scene. For lovebirds we've got a list of romantic hot spots where you can linger with your loved one over a glass of champagne and a leisurely meal out. For those celebrating with friends and family, we've included true crowd-pleasers, where you can comfortably dine with your grandmother, your best girlfriends, or your well-behaved 7-year-old.

If you're hosting a New Year's Eve party and want to serve a luxurious pate that tastes as intriguing as its name, make faux gras. This vegetarian, chickpea-based spread masquerades as foie gras, the fattened goose or duck liver considered a delicacy by some. The mock version comes close, in essence, to the real thing. The pate is on the appetizer menu at Scampo in the Liberty Hotel. "It's not a new idea, but it's a different kind of dish," says Scampo chef and co-owner Lydia Shire.

5 Napkin Burger It may look like an old-fashioned butcher shop, but this upscale Back Bay spot offers every modern variation on the burger you could dream up – beef, tuna, turkey, lamb kofta, veggie – and all between great buns. End with a glorious espresso brownie sundae or a shake in the classic conical cup. Prudential Center, Boston, 617-375-2277, www.5napkinburger.com   80 Thoreau Who needs encyclopedic menus? At this Concord restaurant, chef Carolyn Johnson offers seven appetizers, eight entrees, and five desserts.

It was not an obvious choice for an on-again-off-again vegetarian: braised piglet risotto topped with shavings of foie gras. But the dish seemed to fit the mood of the evening, as we sat in the garden-level dining room of Le Club Chasse et Pêche in Old Montreal, the dark decor the perfect accompaniment to a Friday evening that felt more like deep February than early fall. My boyfriend, Yoon Byun, a Globe photographer, orders foie gras nearly every opportunity he gets. Such chances are rare in the United States, which was fine by me. I had long turned my nose up at the appetizer I saw as grey...

We divided this New Year's Eve dining guide into three parts. Our picks for party animals show you the best places to get down, as well as chow down; you can expect good food and a lively party scene. For lovebirds we've got a list of romantic hot spots where you can linger with your loved one over a glass of champagne and a leisurely meal out. For those celebrating with friends and family, we've included true crowd-pleasers, where you can comfortably dine with your grandmother, your best girlfriends, or your well-behaved 7-year-old.

L -- the new incarnation of the restaurant in Louis Boston -- comes into the city like the runway show of some minimalist fashion designer, say, Jil Sander. This oddly shaped restaurant tucked into the end of the upscale clothing store's historic building has had a contemporary redo -- all bold abstract paintings and sinuously curving black banquettes. But the look is more than decor-deep. Pino Maffeo, hired to create a completely new concept, brings a stylish, modern cuisine to the table.

STORYVILLE 90 Exeter St., Boston 617-236-1134 www.storyvilleboston.com The space formerly known as Saint was formerly known as Storyville, the '50s jazz club where Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald performed. Now the name is back, without the jazz. The new Storyville is focused instead on eating, drinking, lounging, and dancing. There is a DJ booth, and occasionally there will be live music. The establishment has been completely redone, with leather couches, ornate wallpaper, and red accents.

They are giddy. Drunk on knowledge. High on the conceit of what they are trying to do. Finest dining, here in Fort Point — modern yet lavish, refined and formal and beyond expensive. You are in their sights, and Menton’s minions are coming for you. From the right! A woman armed with more information about the wine she will pour than anyone would ever need to know. She is grinning. She is talking perfume and acid and soil and philosophy. She is pouring liquid, golden, into your glass.