Here's a brilliant idea: a table that converts easily from a dining table to a wine tasting bench.
We professional tasters know well how literally back-breaking it is to write tasting notes on a table designed for eating at (see the lengths we have to go to at The mechanics of tasting). The ideal table height for tasting wine (or anything else, I suppose) is almost a foot taller so that you can stand and take notes at it.
The table below was spotted at Rajat Parr's new San Francisco restaurant RN74. Most of the time it's a communal table for people to share food around but when they have a tasting or presentation, it is raised hydraulically using the gear underneath so as to be a particularly comfortable tasting bench. I have no idea what it cost, and I dare say that someone will suggest that simply lifting it up and sticking a pile of books under each leg would have been a lot cheaper, but it seemed pretty clever to me. (Not sure about the tonne-weight chairs that go with it though...)
