Interesting question DSK and it was one that first brought me to this forum when I was seconded to the USA from 240V 50Hz land. I had a fair bit of 240V workshop equipment plus that very British of requirements a 240V kettle, all 3kW of it! The question I asked at the time (in the very early noughties) was can a 240V (NEMA6-20) be installed in a US kitchen?
A great deal of debate ensued including issues around GFCI which, as has been pointed out above, can be rather expensive. The final outcome was that yes I could as it was for a dedicated piece of equipment and that the code requirements for GFCI in the kitchen only applied to 120V circuits.
A search might find the original post but it has surpassed my ability to do so.
It is true that 210.8 (A) still says
(A) Dwelling Units. All 125-volt, single-phase, 15- and 20-
ampere receptacles installed in the locations specified in
210.8(A)(1) through (10) shall have ground-fault circuit-
interrupter protection for personnel.
