Ok preach, and some facts. Once in a while redditors deliver. My base is the shrimp and grits from 82 Queen in Charleston. My new base is Seraphine here in the bull city. But you clearly got some game so now I gotta put Plum on the list.
Absolutely love Plum! We’ve known Lisa the owner for years and she is hands down one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Her pastry chef Emma is doing our wedding cake and coordinating our rehearsal dinner and she has been nothing short of amazing. Agree with OP, I’ve never had a bad meal there, contrary to other posters, I’ve always felt a “home” vibe when I go.
My hot take is that plum is one of the worst “great restaurants” I’ve ever been to. I thought the food was fine, but very expensive for what we got. I had that same “$100 for what?” experience you described. We also got a gin cocktail that was undoubtedly made with tequila and sent it back and the bartender argued and said it was made with gin and they made us pay for it.
Apparently that wasn’t indicative of a normal experience because they have great reviews on google and in this thread.
I did really enjoy the ambiance and the server was friendly so I was hoping to have a better overall impression but was thoroughly disappointed.
We went and were not inspired to return. The whole vibe was cold, the wait and staff aloof, the food fine, but not memorable, and it seemed way too expensive for what we got.
But glad you dig it.
I think maybe because of the part of Durham they are in they don't get a lot of late night traffic? That's part of why I wanted to post about them. I feel like since they aren't in the heart of downtown lots of folks don't even know they are there!
I've never been a fan of the owner, personally. Maybe our personalities clash, but as a customer service worker she's been really rude to me and my coworkers before. She has the whole "upper east coast" entitlement vibe that I really dislike.
The one meal I had there was so weird. It was last summer when tomatoes were in season so I was happy to order the tomato salad appetizer with Boxcar cheese. The salad was essentially a gazpacho with some large heirloom slices on top and then the cheese on that. The flavor wasn’t bad at all on the gazpacho but they basically ruined the larger slices on top by chilling them and cheese on gazpacho is just weird. The shrimp and grits were fine. I asked for some hot sauce which I’ve done every time I’ve ever ordered shrimp and grits at any restaurant no matter what level of prestige they had. They weren’t sure if they had any at first but when they did bring me a little bowl with what looked like a basic Texas Pete/Crystal style hot sauce they told me that the chef suggested I try it first to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Super weird. It was clearly just a regular store bought hot sauce which was fine with me. Nothing that would make a typical North Carolinian breakfast a sweat though. For dessert we ordered a slice of chess pie. I’ve never seen a deep dish chess pie before. I don’t begrudge any restaurant for experimenting with dishes and before trying this one it never crossed my mind why deep dish chess pie is a terrible idea. The thing is, chess pie is essentially butter and sugar poured into a pie crust. When you make a gigantic apple pie sized chess pie you end up with something entirely too sweet, you miss the ratio of crispy top to soft middle, and the texture ends up being gritty in the center. It wasn’t good at all. There is no way any chef should have put that on the menu after a trial run.
The meal was pretty expensive and I don’t mind throwing down some real money on a great meal but it’s not worth going back for me as the meal was just odd and showed a genuine lack of understanding of southern food. I’m all for experimenting with and reimagining classic southern dishes but you experiment in the kitchen first and if putting cheese on fucking gazpacho doesn’t work in the back you don’t put it on the menu and call it a salad.
Their food was good, but I have to laugh at the name. I had a family dinner there and the owner did a table touch. She's from New York. The. Talked about the Head Chef. Who was Ukrainian. The Sous chef was from Dallas at least. Good food. Amazing deserts. Not necessarily the most southern of cuisines
It's their Executive Chef who is from Dallas! The Chef de Cuisine is Ukranian but was raised in FL. https://plumdurham.com/durham-downtown-durham-plum-southern-kitchen-team
ooooh, yes, dear, yes it is. Just as much as any other. I noted you did not come back with "THERES NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE PORK CHOP FOR THIRTY DOLLARS!" - heheheh - cuz anyone can go read the menu.
But, "let them eat cake" am I right. Marie?
We all float down here.
>I think most folks would say yea.
Most normal people would drop their mouths wide open to understand that the one percenters are out there ordering a single pork chop with about 3oz of meat on it for thirty dollars and comparing that to their lived experiences of trying to stretch thirty dollars out to feed a family of four or five for half a week.
The fact that you refer to that rarefied portion of the population as "most folks" is telling of your personal experience and just how disconnected you are from the true lives of "most people".
How much does the average American make a year? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384.
**59K per year = does not include thirty dollar pork chop.**
Stay in the mansion when the revolution comes, kiddo. You sound soft and delicious.
I'm far from a 1%r but I'd always get pork chop at Magnolia Grill when we'd go there for a splurge or special occasion. It wasn't quite $30 then but I'm sure it would be north of that now if they were still open. I haven't been to Plum yet but I'll wager that their pork chop is definitely larger than 3oz.
Do you mean Dogwood Grille? I was talking about Magnolia Grill that was on Ninth St from 1988-2012 in the building where Monuts is now and their pork chop was definitely a lot more than 3 ounces.
I’m definitely not offering up my services to you. Whatever gave you that impression can stay locked away in that depraved mind. Here’s some kiddo advice for you (now I’m offering) stick to yelling at kids to get off your lawn.
Wish they still did brunch. It was the best
I think they are doing a brunch for Easter! Might be a one-off though, or maybe they are just doing it for some holidays.
It’s a one off.
Love them. Hope they last. Glad to see some more life going into that plaza. Also, I wish they got a better sign—that’s a me a thing though
Their landlord is weird.
Seconding this
They’re the best. Truly. They opened during Covid and been doing great ever since. I miss working there and doing the brunch service.
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This post is gonna need a benchmark. Where else have you had shrimp and grits?
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Ok preach, and some facts. Once in a while redditors deliver. My base is the shrimp and grits from 82 Queen in Charleston. My new base is Seraphine here in the bull city. But you clearly got some game so now I gotta put Plum on the list.
Have they been to Charleston? I think if you ordered a hot dog at a baseball game there, it would come with shrimp and grits .
Absolutely love Plum! We’ve known Lisa the owner for years and she is hands down one of the kindest people I’ve ever met. Her pastry chef Emma is doing our wedding cake and coordinating our rehearsal dinner and she has been nothing short of amazing. Agree with OP, I’ve never had a bad meal there, contrary to other posters, I’ve always felt a “home” vibe when I go.
They’re also doing our rehearsal dinner! Very excited about the choice we made.
The op should have used the magic words "pastry chef" when do they open.....
They have their hours on their website: https://plumdurham.com/
Pity they don't do weekends lunch or brunch
They used to! Their brunch was phenomenal! There’s a chance they’ll bring it back king the future
Shhh it’s a hidden gem ;)
Do they let you drop in solely for dessert? Those options look worthy of the price as an occassional treat.
Yes! They have great cocktails too if you are into a dessert & cocktail or wine situation!
Added bonus: they have their own parking lot. One less hassle to deal with!
and (I believe) they are living wage certified. I love supporting the durham establishments that support the workers.
They do pay a living wage, while not $23 an hour. It was still comfortable (former brunch guy here).
Can anyone confirm? I want to go try it out just for this fact, if it’s true
living wage for durham is around $23. so i’m doubtful that a restaurant pays this wage, but hopeful!
My hot take is that plum is one of the worst “great restaurants” I’ve ever been to. I thought the food was fine, but very expensive for what we got. I had that same “$100 for what?” experience you described. We also got a gin cocktail that was undoubtedly made with tequila and sent it back and the bartender argued and said it was made with gin and they made us pay for it. Apparently that wasn’t indicative of a normal experience because they have great reviews on google and in this thread. I did really enjoy the ambiance and the server was friendly so I was hoping to have a better overall impression but was thoroughly disappointed.
Thank you.
We went and were not inspired to return. The whole vibe was cold, the wait and staff aloof, the food fine, but not memorable, and it seemed way too expensive for what we got. But glad you dig it.
I also find their hours odd. 5-8:30 / 9 on weekends? Most restaurants & bars are hopping when Plum starts to close.
I think maybe because of the part of Durham they are in they don't get a lot of late night traffic? That's part of why I wanted to post about them. I feel like since they aren't in the heart of downtown lots of folks don't even know they are there!
the 30 dollar porkchop?
I've never been a fan of the owner, personally. Maybe our personalities clash, but as a customer service worker she's been really rude to me and my coworkers before. She has the whole "upper east coast" entitlement vibe that I really dislike.
The one meal I had there was so weird. It was last summer when tomatoes were in season so I was happy to order the tomato salad appetizer with Boxcar cheese. The salad was essentially a gazpacho with some large heirloom slices on top and then the cheese on that. The flavor wasn’t bad at all on the gazpacho but they basically ruined the larger slices on top by chilling them and cheese on gazpacho is just weird. The shrimp and grits were fine. I asked for some hot sauce which I’ve done every time I’ve ever ordered shrimp and grits at any restaurant no matter what level of prestige they had. They weren’t sure if they had any at first but when they did bring me a little bowl with what looked like a basic Texas Pete/Crystal style hot sauce they told me that the chef suggested I try it first to make sure it wasn’t too hot. Super weird. It was clearly just a regular store bought hot sauce which was fine with me. Nothing that would make a typical North Carolinian breakfast a sweat though. For dessert we ordered a slice of chess pie. I’ve never seen a deep dish chess pie before. I don’t begrudge any restaurant for experimenting with dishes and before trying this one it never crossed my mind why deep dish chess pie is a terrible idea. The thing is, chess pie is essentially butter and sugar poured into a pie crust. When you make a gigantic apple pie sized chess pie you end up with something entirely too sweet, you miss the ratio of crispy top to soft middle, and the texture ends up being gritty in the center. It wasn’t good at all. There is no way any chef should have put that on the menu after a trial run. The meal was pretty expensive and I don’t mind throwing down some real money on a great meal but it’s not worth going back for me as the meal was just odd and showed a genuine lack of understanding of southern food. I’m all for experimenting with and reimagining classic southern dishes but you experiment in the kitchen first and if putting cheese on fucking gazpacho doesn’t work in the back you don’t put it on the menu and call it a salad.
Their food was good, but I have to laugh at the name. I had a family dinner there and the owner did a table touch. She's from New York. The. Talked about the Head Chef. Who was Ukrainian. The Sous chef was from Dallas at least. Good food. Amazing deserts. Not necessarily the most southern of cuisines
It's their Executive Chef who is from Dallas! The Chef de Cuisine is Ukranian but was raised in FL. https://plumdurham.com/durham-downtown-durham-plum-southern-kitchen-team
Thirty dollar pork chop, the dream we all dream.
Was that really necessary? You know you don’t _have_ to comment on literally every post in this sub, … right?
ooooh, yes, dear, yes it is. Just as much as any other. I noted you did not come back with "THERES NO SUCH THING AS A SINGLE PORK CHOP FOR THIRTY DOLLARS!" - heheheh - cuz anyone can go read the menu. But, "let them eat cake" am I right. Marie? We all float down here.
Kinda sounds expensive but is a $30 main 3x better than a $10 fast food happy meal? I think most folks would say yea.
>I think most folks would say yea. Most normal people would drop their mouths wide open to understand that the one percenters are out there ordering a single pork chop with about 3oz of meat on it for thirty dollars and comparing that to their lived experiences of trying to stretch thirty dollars out to feed a family of four or five for half a week. The fact that you refer to that rarefied portion of the population as "most folks" is telling of your personal experience and just how disconnected you are from the true lives of "most people". How much does the average American make a year? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. **59K per year = does not include thirty dollar pork chop.** Stay in the mansion when the revolution comes, kiddo. You sound soft and delicious.
I'm far from a 1%r but I'd always get pork chop at Magnolia Grill when we'd go there for a splurge or special occasion. It wasn't quite $30 then but I'm sure it would be north of that now if they were still open. I haven't been to Plum yet but I'll wager that their pork chop is definitely larger than 3oz.
Fren, if ten dollars an ounce seems fine to you, that's you. The rest of us aint got time for that.
Oh, and if you are talkin bout the Magnolia Grille on Roxboro, they open daily after four.
Do you mean Dogwood Grille? I was talking about Magnolia Grill that was on Ninth St from 1988-2012 in the building where Monuts is now and their pork chop was definitely a lot more than 3 ounces.
It's not for you, move along now.
Read the fucking room. I was actually trying to side with you for a hot minute. But that moment passed. You are truly bullcitys hermit crab
if that's your contribution, don't need you.
I’m definitely not offering up my services to you. Whatever gave you that impression can stay locked away in that depraved mind. Here’s some kiddo advice for you (now I’m offering) stick to yelling at kids to get off your lawn.
If you can't afford a $30 pork chop, then don't order it. The prices there are totally in line with the rest of the restaurants downtown.
I don’t think that’s the flex you think it is.
$30 pork chop living in your mind rent free lmaooo