Bastille Day is fast approaching, and with it, the second annual Pix Patisserie Bastille Day celebration. Guest chef, Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon, had planned on creating foie gras ice cream floats to be served at the event along side other, more traditional, French goodies.

This raised the ire of the Portland Animal Defense League (PDXADL):

Not only is it a shame that birds were tortured to make foie gras, but in this
case the foie gras is being used in a novelty item that is most likely going to
be thrown up by anyone that tastes it. We're queasy just thinking about it.

That queasiness prompted PDXADL to launch a phone-in campaign against Pix in order to protest the use of fattened duck liver, a French delicacy, during the French celebration. Rucker decided to pull the foie floats from the Bastille Day menu after learning that Pix was receiving concerned calls regarding his dessert.

It will be interesting to see if Rucker's mere presence will prompt Bastille Day protests, considering that foie can be commonly found at his famed SE Portland eatery.

Let's just hope they don't have to recreate that whole barricade scene from Les Miserables.