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Restaurant Diner Finds $4,000 Pearl in $14 Oyster Meal
Well that doesn't suck.
File under: pleasant holiday surprises. A diner at NYC’s Grand Central Oyster Bar came in for his typical meal earlier this month, splashed out $14.75 for a stew-like dish including six Blue Point oysters — and ended up discovering a pearl rolling around in his mouth.
At first, he thought the pea-sized object was part of his tooth, and that he’d require some dentistry. On the flip side, it was a pearl that could be valued as high as about $4,000, according to an expert cited in the New York Post’s report of the incident.
The 66-year old New Jersey resident who came up with the pearl, Rick Antosh, wondered if this kind of thing happens pretty regularly at oyster houses — but it turns out… not so much.
Executive chef Sandy Ingber said this is only the second time he’s seen it happen in his 28 years at the restaurant, according to the Post report. He added, “And we sell over 5,000 oysters on the half shell every day.”
He explained that the oysters arrive at the restaurant from Virginia pre-shucked. To wit, “It’s extremely rare, so that makes it interesting and exciting.”
