California: Feast on foie gras with these wine-country rentals

Vacation rental company BeautifulPlaces has a new gourmet perk for guests who rent one of its country homes in California’s wine country: a four-course foie gras dinner.

The foie fest is meant to celebrate a legal decision last week that overturned California’s ban on the sale of the fatty duck or goose liver dish.

“Here in the food and wine center of California, we are thrilled a federal judge lifted the ban on foie gras and we can once again welcome this delicacy back to our villa dining tables,” Liza Graves, president of the Sonoma-based company, said in a statement.

BeautifulPlaces specializes in high-end “villa rentals and epicurean adventures,” its website says. For selected homes, dinner will be prepared by a private chef and served at your dining room table.

The meal starts with an appetizer of foie gras-stuffed strawberries, followed by a salad with cranberries and walnuts that’s topped with a foie gras vinaigrette.

Wild mushroom tortellini with foie gras sherry gravy will be served as the main course, and foie gras beignets with huckleberry compote ends the meal. Guests also receive a copy of “The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World’s Fiercest Food Fight” by Marc Caro.

Here’s how the offer works: Reserve a rental for at least four days by Feb. 28. You can stay anytime between now and April 30 (blackout days are April 3 to 5).

Rentals on the list include Vineyard Knoll Estate set in Glen Ellen vineyard (the TV show “The Bachelor” was once filmed here) sleeps up to 10 people and starts at $6,200 for four nights. Kenwood Knoll in Kenwood sleeps up to six people and starts at $4,780 for four nights.

Info: BeautifulPlaces, (800) 495-9961