My Table Has A Big Black Penis On It

You don't exactly have to be George Lois to design an effective food magazine cover; just slap a close-up of something delicious on there and call it a day. That's why we're giving extra props to the staff of My Table for the adventurous cover of their December-January issue, which takes things in a New Yorker-meets-gay-porn-mag direction, and totally in a good way:

Tom Newton is the man behind this girthy grinder. His table of contents bio says his work "tickle[s] the brain" and "delight[s] the eye." This particular image definitely tickles the part of our brain that says, "Hey, a dick!!!" As a hetero male, delightful may not be the perfect adjective to describe this reaction, but were we gay or a woman, we'd definitely want to twist that thing until we were sneezing for days.

We spoke with Teresa Byrne-Dodge, My Table's editor and publisher, about the piece, just to make sure everyone was in on the joke. (Hey, you never know...)

Hair Balls: Got the issue, looks good, but I was wondering if you've gotten any comments on the cover...
Byrne-Dodge: (Laughs) On the phallic cover?
Hair Balls: Sure.
Byrne-Dodge: A few people have said, 'Yeah, I like it.'
Hair Balls: So it was on purpose.
Byrne-Dodge: Well, we lived with that image for several months before we published it, so yeah, I guess you could say it was on purpose.
Hair Balls: It's impressive for sure. It could give other pepper grinders an inferiority complex.
Byrne-Dodge: Well, we do things bigger in Texas.

Next month: My Table rates cucumbers.