Chicago chef first foie gras offender

CHICAGO, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Chicago chef is receiving national media attention for being the first caught selling newly-banned foie gras in his restaurant.

The city Health Department received a 311 non-emergency report Saturday that the Block 44 was offering the pricy delicacy, three days after the city council banned it, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Chef Rick Spiros doesn't dispute the charge.

"I had a couple pieces left over and I just got rid of it," he told the newspaper.

He said it wasn't an act of defiance but an effort to avoid wasting expensive food.

The first offense earned him a letter of caution but a second would carry a $250 fine, the report said.

The city council followed several European cities' lead, banning the artificially fattened duck livers as a product of animal abuse.

Spiros thinks the whole hue and cry is silly.

"There are things far more important to be dealing with in the city," he told the Sun-Times.