Plum in Oakland

Oakland is quickly becoming a hotbed for terrific restaurants and amazing cuisine. With the continued high rental costs in San Francisco, many chefs are moving shop to the other side of the Bay, welcoming a burgeoning renaissance for the East Bay.


One of the hottest new spots is Daniel Patterson’s first venture in the East Bay, Plum in Uptown Oakland. Patterson is well-known for his highly-recognized restaurant Coi in San Francisco along with Il Cane Rosso in the Ferry Building.

Kitchen at work

Plum can best be described as a little brother to Coi. The food and service match any top-notch restaurant in the Bay Area. The menu is wonderfully eclectic and reasonably priced. It is fine dining in a casual and modern environment, a place where you can go for a special occasion or just stop by for a quick bite to eat.


The menu is divided into snacks, starters, vegetables and entrees. Executive Chef Charlie Parker, formerly of Bonny Doon Vineyard's restaurant the Cellar Door in Santa Cruz, is currently mixing and matching the menu. Like Patterson has stressed with both of his restaurants in San Francisco, Parker uses the freshest ingredients with items that are locally grown.

I previously tried one of the preview dinners that Patterson and Lauren Kiino held at Il Cane Rosso in August and was immediately blown away by the complexity of the flavors, even in seemingly the simplest dishes. Parker is well on his way to creating the same type of wonderful sensations. Each dish had a simple, homey quality to it. But the wonderful array of flavors was amazing. The main ingredient was highlighted and remained the centerpiece of each dish, but was accompanied by the perfect array of “secondary” ingredients and flavors, which in my humble opinion is the real sign of a quality chef. Let the main ingredient be the standout while building around it.


The dishes are not very large, but the menu lends itself to that. It is perfect to just pick and choose items off the menu, almost like an upscale tapas restaurant. To his credit, Patterson wanted to create a neighborhood atmosphere with reasonable prices and he has done that at Plum, as everything was $20 or less.  While all of the food is terrific, the vegetable dishes really stand out to me.  Such a wonderful variety of flavors and produce.

Service was terrific from start to finish, a huge aspect of the dining experience because of the popularity of the restaurant. Sitting in front of the open kitchen, a woman sitting nearby stood up to use the restroom. The servers immediately grabbed her plate and it was put under a heating lamp/warmer. When she got back to her seat, the dish was once again presented to her at the same temperature as when she had left. Just a really classy touch. The beverage list was also filled with wines, beer, sake and other concoctions. 


I am excited to visit Plum again in the near future and see what is next on Chef Parker’s menu. The diversification of Oakland continues and restaurants like Plum just add to the growing movement to build new and exciting places around the city.


**Added note: according to Ms. Tablehopper, Plum has started a tasting menu for those sitting at the bar in front of the open kitchen.  Five courses for $59.  Read her review and more here.**

Plum is located at 2214 Broadway Street in Oakland.  It is best to call ahead and try to make a reservation.  The restaurant is open from Monday-Friday for lunch from 11-2 and open daily for dinner from 5pm-1am (special late night menu)


Prices:

Snacks-$4 each
Starters-$9-12
Vegetables and Grains-$12
Entrees (animal)-$20 and under

Preview Dinner for Plum

Restauranteur Daniel Patterson is expanding to the East Bay in the coming year.  The executive chef at the highly-acclaimed Coi in San Francisco will be opening two new projects in Oakland.  Bracina will be located at Jack London Square, part of their new development project.  And opening in what they hope will be mid-September is Plum, part of the growing and revived Uptown area of Oakland.  

As a test run, Patterson and Lauren Kiino, chef at Il Cane Rosso in the Ferry Building, have been hosting preview dinners for their new restaurant on Monday nights at Il Cane Rosso.  The preview dinners are meant as a trial run of sorts, trying different dishes and getting feedback on what works and what doesn’t.  It is a four-course meal with an amuse bouche included.  Having never been to Coi, but seeing reviews and the menu, I think Plum is aiming at being “Coi-lite” with similar modern cuisine with a flair, all at less expensive prices.

Crispy chicken skin

The menu for the third preview dinner was a veritable mix of different, wonderful ingredients and dishes that were matched very well.  It started with an amuse bouche, crispy chicken skin with seasoning.  A nice simple start.

Black cod-potato puree

Next, a smoked black cod-potato puree, with pepper-wild fennel relish and olive oil crackers.  This was a WOW dish.  The puree was so creamy, yet with a great mix of flavors.  I could have literally eaten a large bowl of this and been satisfied.  Just a great dish.

Cauliflower

Next was a vegetable dish, cauliflower glazed with lemon and garum, with bulghur and dandelion salsa verde added on.  I had never had a dish quite like this.  The cauliflower was prepared perfectly, not too crunchy, not too soft.  The dish had a really strong lemon taste to it, which I didn’t mind at all.  I can see where some people might say it overpowered the rest of the dish, but I think it was another great mix of flavors that were matched very well.

Pork shoulder

The main entree was a slow-cooked pork shoulder with a side of turnip, apple, miso and fresh seaweed.  I thought this dish was again prepared very well.  Honestly, it was probably my least favorite dish, but was still very tasty.  The pork was moist and the sauce matched well with it.    

Raspberries w/ breton sable

Finally, dessert!  At this point, I was quite stuffed.  But when I saw the raspberries with breton sable, yogurt and roobois, I knew I was in trouble.  An unbelievably refreshing, sweet, fruity end to a wonderful meal.  The raspberries were so fresh, it was almost as if they were picked and washed right before being plated.

I am very excited about the opening of Plum.  Daniel Patterson is known for his very imaginative food, wonderful plating and creativity in his dishes.  Coi has been on my must go-to lists for quite some time.  And now, I can add Plum to that list as well.  It makes me really happy to see Oakland expanding into the foodie world of the Bay Area.  In most cases, people travel to San Francisco and the Napa area, thinking those are the only places where they can have that wonderful “foodie experience.”  But with the continuing expansion of Jack London Square and the Uptown area, and the additions of restaurants like Commis and Plum, Oakland is putting its name on the map for wonderful sustainable food, a wide variety of cuisines and restaurants and becoming another force in the growing world of food in the Bay Area.

Plum is expected to open in mid-September.  It will be located at 2214 Broadway in Oakland.  The plan is for a diverse menu, with most entrees $20 and under.