Yesterday, a federal judge overturned the state of California's ban on foie gras. Great news, for assholes.

On Monday, as Angelenos trudged into week two of their gloomy, foie gras-less "existence," 700 geese from the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in New York were rounded up for Killing Time.

A lawsuit filed earlier this week in Los Angeles [PDF] alleges that California's recently enacted ban on foie gras is "unconstitutional, vague and interferes with federal commerce laws."

Everyone in California has lost their damn minds in advance of the state's foie gras ban that goes into effect this Sunday, July 1st.

Sometimes you just have to trust that your government is willing to fight the good fight when comes to handling international crises. Take France and its production of foie gras — the not very humanely produced bird liver pate. The French take that shit pretty seriously. So when organizers of Germany's Anuga food fair banned French foie gras this year under pressure from animal rights groups, France's melodramatic external trade minister Pierre Lellouche shot back, saying the ban would have "global repercussions."

"Birds should not have to suffer for donuts." So argues vegan blogger Annie Hartnett, who has penned a petition protesting a menu offering at Brooklyn's Do or Dine restaurant: the foie gras doughnut, a high-end dessert running $11 per fatted-goose-liver-filled fritter. (To be clear, Do or Dine don't claim to have invented the foie gras doughnut, which has been popping up on restaurant menus around the country for several years.)

• Di Fara sells the city's most expensive slice of pizza. (The price was just raised to $5.) A symptom of the recession? A sign the recession is over? Something else? Now even the mayor has been forced to weigh in on the subject. [NYT]
• The Oyster Bar in Grand Central has lost its liquor license. [Eater]
• Closings: Centovini on West Houston will close tomorrow; Brooklyn's Bonita closes in August; and Baraza on Avenue C has already closed its doors.
• The insanely messy legal feud between Philippe and Mr. Chow continues. [GS]
• The perfect complement to a summer lobster roll? Lobster ice cream. [GS]
• The critical deets from yesterday's "beer summit": The president drank a Bud Light; Joe Biden had a Bucklers; Henry Louis Gates opted for a Sam Adams Light; and Cambridge cop James Crowley sipped on a Blue Moon. [NYP]

• Is Thomas Keller opening a new resto in NYC? Depends who you ask. [TFB]
• The animal rights group that staged a foie gras protest outside Momofuku Noodle Bar back in May will return to the scene once again on Sunday. [GS]
• Word has it Rande Gerber's Stone Rose is exiting Time Warner Center. [P6]
• Speaking of exits, Frank Bruni will step down as the Times' restaurant critic in just 21 days. Eater offers up a few guesses as to his replacement. [Eater]
• Café Boulud will be providing the food when the Surrey Hotel reopens. [VV]
• Village on West 9th has closed. So has Midtown's City Burger. [GS, ML]
• The vast majority of the chocolate that Jacques Torres sells is manufactured in Brussels, Belgium, not at his NYC factories. Just so you know. [Forbes]
• Want to watch Gwyneth Paltrow roast a kitchen? Go right ahead. [GoaG]

• Payard Patsserie was shut down by the Dept. of Health today. [Eater, NYT]
• Susur Lee's Shang only earns one star from Bruni in today's Times: "The magic that Mr. Lee reputedly made in Toronto hasn't followed him here." [NYT]
• Is chef Damon Wise saying goodbye to Tom Colicchio's Craft empire? [NYO]
• More mixed reviews for L'Artusi in the West Village. [Bloomberg, TONY]
• Is Anita Lo's Annisa up for sale? [Eater]
• Drew Nieporent is joining Danny Meyer at Citi Field. [Crain's]
• Is foie gras torture? Not so much, says Sarah DiGregorio of the Voice. [VV]
• Be on the lookout for new Heinz ketchup labels! [NYT]
• What's on the menu for dessert tonight? Breakfast, naturally. [NYT]

Suppose you're a relatively anonymous City Council member with mayoral ambitions—how to distinguish yourself from all the higher-profile Democrats jockeying for the job? Champion the winningly populist cause of banning foie gras! Tony Avella of Queens, apparently unaware that this movement is so 2006 and that even the city of Chicago recently lifted its much-ballyhooed goose liver ban, is rallying behind legislation that would prohibit the force-feeding of fowl to fatten them. We're sure this issue is priority No. 1 for his constituents Whitestone and Bayside, those hotbeds of animal-rights activism. (Although they would probably be more amenable to Avella's proposal than Manhattanites, who might actually eat the stuff.) We're guessing, though, that means Avella can perish the thought of an endorsement by Daniel Boulud.

Earlier this week, in her first piece since starting at the Observer, Doree Shafrir wrote of the David Burke & Donatella peanut butter & foie gras sandwich. Coincidentally, ABC News took a look at the sandwich today! Let's compare!

Good news for those of us who enjoy consuming the products of barbarous torment:

First they came for the trans fats, and now they're after our foie gras. A group of animal rights activists (who fall somewhere on the self-righteous spectrum between bicycle activists and tree people) have hit on a novel strategy to shut down production of the delicacy in New York State. Reports the Sun: