The last thing I’ve been able to do lately is keep up with all the restaurant openings (or even check out all the established restaurants in my new neighborhood), but I have been keeping up on the development of one – Plum. Why? Well, I walk by it every day on my way to work and sometimes on my way back home. It’s in the space right next to Franklin Square Wine Bar, where Franklin and Broadway meet at Grand.
For months, I’ve been peeking my head in, watching the space develop from essentially an empty box to an entirely wood covered inviting restaurant. A couple days ago, I noticed more movement inside than usual. Instead of construction staff, there were chefs and wait staff inside so I asked when they’d be opening and they told me next week.
Lucky for me, I was walking home last night and noticed a lot more activity inside – they were having a private pre-opening party. And even luckier, a friend of mine who works for the City called me in to join him. As I already knew from my view from the sidewalk, the space is gorgeous. It’s not entirely done yet (art is still going to be installed on the walls), but I’m a sucker for wood, and Plum has plenty of it. Wood walls, wood floors, wood tables, wood chairs, and of course a wood bar. It might sound like wood overkill, but trust me, it’s not.
I couldn’t stay for long, but I did get a chance to sip on a glass of wine and nibble on some food. There was spiced popcorn, which was quite addictive, crackers with a fig leather (which didn’t sound that interesting but were absolutely delicious), and my favorite, a chickpea fritter with sheep’s milk cheese. Yum! (If you want to read more about their food, there’s an awesome and thorough review on Yelp.)
There’s been some talk of Plum expanding into the now empty Franklin Square Wine Bar space next store, but those rumors were just a bit off. They’re actually going to expand in the other direction (towards Grand), into the former Chinese restaurant. That space will house their bar. I’m pretty happy about this, because that means FSWB will still be available for another restaurateur to move in and start up business again. If you ever walk by there, you’ll know that FSWB looks like it never closed or could open any day, since they didn’t gut the space after closing.
I’m not sure about the time line for expansion, but Plum opens next Wednesday. They opened up reservations this Tuesday and already have 200 reservations made for their first couple of weeks. So if you’re interested in checking it out, I highly recommend visiting their website and making a reservation. They’ll be open daily from 5pm-1am so if you can’t get a dinner reservation, you could stop in for a late night bite.
Living in the O 
No pictures?
They sadly wouldn’t let me take photos because they thought it looked unfinished, though I still think it looks gorgeous. They said I could come back and take photos next week.
Well, I look forward to the photos when you have them. It’s nice to see you blogging again.
Thanks! It’s good to be blogging again. I’m finally back in the groove and should be able to post a few times a week most weeks.
Yum—I can’t wait to try it! We were also excited to hear about the switch in spaces (although, of course, sad that it meant the Chinese place had closed—but I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I never once ate there…) Will be watching for the photos, too!
But the Chinese place on the corner (Grand Palace) was still up and running last week! Maybe the bar area will be the already closed Chinese place that was on the other side of FSWB? I’ve heard rumors that Lukas was thinking of re-opening FSWB depending on the traffic brought on by Plum so maybe that’s what nixed the original expansion idea?
Sara,
The Chinese buffet b/w BSB and Plum is closed, gone for goode. They emptied out the kitchen on the morning of the 26th.
In sad news, I think the small office supply store that was looted during the Mehserle riot maybe be closing for good.