By John Kessler

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The blackboard menu at Joe Beef restaurant in Montreal was written almost entirely in French. But our most pressing question for our waitress was about one of the few (partially) English language items listed.

"What on earth is a foie gras Double Down?" we wondered.

She laughed. "It's like the Double Down at KFC. We take two lobes of deep-fried foie gras and sandwich it between melted cheddar cheese, bacon, maple syrup and sriracha mayonnaise. It's really intense."

We passed, but the young tourists from New York at the next table couldn't resist. "Oh my God! Oh my God!" they muttered between mouthfuls.

Things are looking a little different on the other side of this great continent. Last month, California enacted a ban that made it illegal to raise, sell or serve foie gras, made by force-feeding ducks and geese through a tube to enlarge their livers.

The procedure, called by its French name, gavage, is considered cruel by California lawmakers, animal rights activists and a good percentage of the population.

Foie gras is no longer an obscure delicacy for Francophiles and the very rich. It is the obsession of a whole new generation of gourmets.

The unctuous texture and lingering mild flavor of foie gras--without any of the bitterness typical of liver--come as a surprise to first-time diners.

These qualities also serve well in bridging sweet and savory flavors better than just about any other food.

And so a whole new school of foie-gras cookery has developed in recent years.

With a wink, young chefs like to put an ironic spin on childhood favorites by adding foie gras.

For many young food lovers, eating foie (one word now suffices) serves as a big step in the development of their palates. When I was in New York recently, my nephew took me to a really fun hipster-bait restaurant in Brooklyn called Do or Dine.

"You've got to get the foie gras jelly doughnut," he told me in no uncertain terms. "If you've never had it, you have to try it." What a change from 20 years ago, when foie gras was mentioned in the same breath as caviar and truffles and was the sole province of a certain kind of upscale restaurant.

You still see a lot of that in foie-happy Montreal, where the French fondness for this food runs strong. But it applied to more modern fare as well. Across town from Joe Beef, the restaurant Au Pied de Cochon famously serves foie gras on its poutine--the gut bomb plate of french fries with gravy and cheese.

Young Californians won't have this easy-to-love entry into the world of exciting cuisine. But they also won't worry about tubes stuck down the throats of ducks and geese and painful diseased livers.