"God created that delicacy, but he never created a ban for it," he says as he stands in a small section of tables in his Cyrano's Bistrot, 546 N. Wells St., where exhibits on three walls will tell the story of the dish chronologically, from the Egyptians of 3000 B.C. to modern-day Chicago.
In 2005, Durand spoke out against the proposed ban. The next morning, he found one of his windows splattered with a red liquid -- chicken blood, he thinks.
Despite the prohibition, Durand continued for three years to serve the outlawed delicacy surreptitiously. Last summer, with his support, the ban was repealed.
Bruce Friedrich, an official with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, denounced Durand's plan as "a museum that celebrates the product of extreme cruelty to animals."
The French-born Durand shrugs his Gallic shoulders when asked about such charges from animal-rights activists.
"What's next? Frog legs?" Durand asks. "You don't want to know how they get the legs off."
preardon@tribune.com
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