Plum

I like this name.  Daniel Patterson, the chef/owner of Coi in San Francisco (which we have been wanting to try), is opening a new restaurant in Oakland.  It is called "Plum," from the poem "This is Just to Say" by William Carlos Williams:

I have eaten

the plums

that were in

the icebox

and which

you were probably

saving

for breakfast

Forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet

and so cold

From the story in SFGate:

The four-star chef - an Oakland resident - has taken over a fried chicken joint in the Uptown district (2214 Broadway) with plans to open by early summer. But whereas Bracina will slant toward rustic, open-hearth cuisine, Plum will be more like a younger sibling of Coi, albeit with lower prices. With modern, ingredient-driven dishes falling in the $9-$19 range, it'll resemble Coi's lounge menu, but better, according to Patterson.

"This will be Coi as a neighborhood restaurant," he says, "high-energy, bustling and much more approachable."

The 45-seater will feature an open kitchen and 11-seat counter, with hours from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays and 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday. Il Cane Rosso's Lauren Kiino will be the opening chef, staying in place until Bracina premieres.

But that's not all. A few months post-opening, Patterson will take over the adjacent storefront, extending Plum to include a bar area. When that opens (hopefully by winter), consultant Scott Beattie - the maestro best known for his cocktail program at Cyrus - will run the show.

It's the latest in a restaurant boom for Oakland's Uptown, which later this month will welcome the second, bigger location of cult favorite Bakesale Betty (2228 Broadway).

Sounds like a very nice addition to the Oakland restaurant scene, which we just liked so much with our recent visit to Camino.