White truffle season is upon us, and the fancy fungus is now popping up on city menus at the usual outrageous prices.
Uptown restaurateur Nello Balan has gone one better by getting his mitts on what he claims is the world’s biggest white truffle, weighing in at a mouth-watering 4 pounds.
But regulars at his Madison Avenue eatery won’t get even a whiff of it — Nello says he sold it Thursday to Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin for $95,000.
Potanin, who has a $14 billion fortune, is the fourth-richest man in Russia and a business partner of Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov. Potanin mainly lives in Moscow, so it’s unlikely any of us will get an invite to his place for a truffle dinner.