A valuable pearl in a plate of clams

December has been a big month for restaurants generating tons of PR from feel-good stories at their stores. A Los Angeles restaurant made headlines after a waiter received a $10 thousand tip from Donald Trump -- but then it turned out that the whole thing was a publicity stunt cooked up by an ambitious restauranteur. The Donald wasn't an uber-tipper after all.

So I can't being a bit skeptical with this latest report. George and Leslie Brock went to Lakeworth, Florida's Dave's Last Resort & Raw Bar on Friday and found a pearl in their clams. It hasn't yet been appraised but according to the Associated Press, "At least one expert said the find could be worth thousands."

The Associated Press also reported that "Brock's $10 plate of clams came from Apalachicola in the Florida Panhandle, said restaurant manager Tom Gerry."

I'll reserve judgment until more information comes forth, but it's hard to argue with the publicity value of a story like this. This Florida Raw Bar will probably see a sizable boost in traffic -- national stories about valuable pearls in the food have a way of doing that.