With big-name chefs and a serious foodie following, Plum the restaurant is a fine dining establishment, and with average drink prices scraping $11 and containing ingredients such as tea foam, Plum Bar, its lower-fi appendage, is most definitely a fine drinking establishment — but it's a fineness that speaks less to pretension than to premium attention to detail, the kind you have to pay a little extra for: marigold flowers in your drink; beef-tendon chicarrones just seconds out of the fryer; a bar staff that'll slide an ice-cold glass of water to you from across the bar when they hear you clearing your throat, without you having to ask — or even noticing.
Plum Bar is the newer lo-fi appendage to its namesake restaurant next door. Interior is heavy on succulents and tea lights, neutral-toned, and wallpapered with poetry from Kerouac and cummings. Executive chef Ron Boyd designs a distinct menu for Plum Bar, patterned after the staff meals in his kitchen. The result is well-designed rib-sticking fare, a posh riposte to classic American bar food (e.g., fried pig’s ears, Brussels sprouts, chicken skin, and beef tendon chicharrón). Plum Bar can suffer from living in the shadow of its glitzier neighbor, sometimes seeming like a glorified waiting room with top-shelf cocktails.
Hours: Daily 5:30 p.m.-midnight
Tags: Bars & Clubs, American, California Cuisine, Burgers/Sandwiches, Brewpub
Price: $$
Payment Type: Cash, all major credit cards
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History
