A lot of people are excited about SIAL Middle East, on at Adnec this week, or next year's Abu Dhabi and Dubai gourmet events. I, on the other hand, cannot wait for the restaurant Boccaccio in the Intercontinental Abu Dhabi to get its new, giant pepper grinder.
At 2.5 metres in height, it may well be the biggest pepper grinder in the world.
At a dinner there recently, my friend and I could not help but laugh whenever waiters brought out the establishment's current, and undeniably massive, wooden pepper grinder. At one metre in height, the thing is impossible to ignore, and from the chuckles we heard every time it came out, it appears no diner can.
A brief chat with the manager revealed his dream of having one that is much, much larger, "like a cannon" that will have to be rolled out by two people, perhaps on a trolley.
In fact, when he couldn't find such a pepper grinder on the internet (the one-metre version appears to be the largest one available on the market) he alerted relatives back in the Philippines to be on the lookout for someone who could custom make his vision. Well, they found someone, who is currently producing one to his extra-large specifications - for a cost that could be as high as Dh7,000.
Much to my delight, that much, much bigger pepper grinder could be making its debut at Boccaccio within months. Stay tuned.
