Gauthier Soho, a French fine-dining restaurant in London that served approximately 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of foie gras every week, recently announced plans to go 100 percent vegan. Owner Alexis Gauthier cited People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) activists as one of the driving forces behind his decision to go vegan and transform his restaurant to match. “[PETA activists] were saying I was a horrible person because I was using foie gras,” he explained at the recent Restaurant Congress event in London. “I thought about it and started to listen to what people had to say about the suffering of animals and thought ‘what am I here for? Is this really the future?’” Foie gras is the fattened liver of a duck or goose, which is produced by force-feeding the animal large amounts of food, often with the use of metal pipes inserted into their throats. The restaurant is no longer serving foie gras, and the menu is approximately 75 percent vegan. The new direction of the restaurant has attracted celebrities like Benedict Cumberbatch, Al Gore, Stella McCartney, and will.i.am. Gauthier sees veganism as the future of food and looks forward to his restaurant being completely animal-free. “The pure creativity has to lie with veganism,” he said. “Within 18 months to two years, we will hopefully be 100 percent vegan.”

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