A Columbia restaurant that was vandalized twice in three weeks in late March and mid-April because of foie gras on its menu was the scene of a peaceful protest Friday.
About 15 people representing the Humane League of Baltimore stood in front of the Iron Bridge Wine Co. on Route 108 wearing T-shirts that read "Got Compassion?" in reaction to the restaurant's servers being adorned in T-shirts reading "Got Foie Gras?"
The six-year-old Howard County restaurant has been at the center of a running debate about serving the popular French delicacy made from the fattened livers of geese and ducks.
Those who oppose the production of foie gras say that the centuries-old process known as gavage is done inhumanely, with the animals being force-fed grains until they die.
Though one of the protesters played a video showing how the process is done, there was no confrontation between the group and those at the restaurant. The only heated discussion came when a Howard County police officer, Lt. Joe Gibbons, asked the group to disperse because they did not have a permit to congregate on the shoulder of a state road.
"We do not need a permit to express our First Amendment rights if the group is smaller than 25," said Adam Wortberg, a 27-year-old Washington resident.
Gibbons quietly convinced protest organizer Aaron Ross that the group should leave.
"I think we got our point across," Ross said. "We got a couple of people to drive away."
Michael and Holly Williams of Columbia, vegetarians who said they had been to the restaurant about 10 times, decided to find another place to eat. "We didn't know they had it on the menu," said Michael Williams.
Restaurant owners Steve and Rob Wecker took the item off the menu for a short time last year. But they said customers insisted they bring the item back.
After windows were shattered, the front door glued shut and the front walkway spray-painted March 23 with the words, "Get rid of the foie gras," causing about $3,000 worth of damage, the Weckers established "Foie Gras Fridays." The restaurant was vandalized again a few weeks later, its windows broken.
The Weckers were not there Friday, but general manager Holly Prinze said she was grateful that the protest at the packed restaurant was peaceful.
