Have you ever been sitting at brunch and thought to yourself, "This French toast is great, but what's really missing is an engorged duck liver?" Same. So it brings me great joy to announce that Brooklyn restaurants are at it again, topping sweet breakfast bread with motherloving foie gras.
Faun restaurant in Prospect Heights is making a super decadent version of French toast that's topped with an enormous piece of seared and salted Hudson Valley duck foie gras. Though more typical in savory applications, foie works quite well with sweet things like maple syrup, so the pairing is a well-matched one.
Chef Brian Leth uses buttery brioche for the eggy bread base upon which the foie regally sits. All that richness and fat and soft texture needs a bit of crunch, supplied here by toasted walnuts. "It's sweet, fatty and savory—hitting all those different satisfaction points instead of a regular sweet French toast," according to Leth.
French toast with an element of foie isn't a new idea—Jean-Georges Vongerichten created a recipe with chicken livers—but Leth gets style points for the sheer brashness of that insanely huge piece of foie.
Foie gras is a controversial ingredient, but those who eat it know it's darn good. Swing by Faun on Saturday or Sunday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. for the decadent brunch entree ($24, service-included)—get a seat in the backyard if you can.
606 Vanderbilt Avenue in Prospect Heights, 718-576-6120; faun.nyc
