As the man, Rick Antosh, told the Post, originally, he thought he'd lost a tooth or a filling when he bit down on something hard, but to his surprise, it was a pea-sized pearl with a black spot on it. In a press release from the restaurant (via Gothamist ), Antosh said, "For a nano-second I thought I had lost a filling or a tooth, but, holy crap, it is a pearl!"
"This isn't Joe's Steakhouse. It's the most famous oyster place in the United States," Antosh told the Post. "I [assumed] it doesn't happen often, but figured it happens at times."
Although he didn't say anything to the restaurant before he left, later, he was curious and called them to find out how often people find pearls in their food. The answer? As executive chef Sandy Ingber said, in the 28 years he's worked at Grand Central Oyster Bar, this was only the second time he'd seen this happen.
The pearl could be worth a few thousand dollars
"Value is based on luster, clarity, and roundness," Livi said. "It is not very round and has a black spot that may or may not be removable. [For] something in this condition, a dealer who really wants it, ballpark, may pay $2,000 to $4,000."
So far, Antosh hasn't decided what his next move will be, beyond returning to Grand Central Oyster Bar to try his luck again.
"I will definitely come back and try to find more pearls. You never know," Antosh told the New York Post.
Not a bad deal for $14.95.
