Dining Review

Kathy Mader

I would say this is a news flash; however, once again, you people out

there who are beating the bushes for the latest in local restaurants got

there first.

Plums, on 17th Street and Tustin Avenue in the crook of the little

mall behind Jack in the Box, has reopened! This is excellent news for

anyone who has ever eaten there and for those of you who soon will -- if

you believe in applied knowledge that is.

The new and improved Plums is, I’m thankful to say, not too new nor

too improved.

The food has always been great and the atmosphere, cozy and homey.

Today’s good news is that they’re still great. The decor, modeled after

the Portland and Seattle trends of improving old buildings instead of

tearing them down, is still warm and welcoming -- and newer and nicer.

Plums has a wonderful little outdoor patio with a cool wrought iron

fence around it with various angles and curves. Take a good look at this

fence; it is a piece of art. Oregon pines and ivy grow around it to

complete that rustic yet elegant Northwest feel.

You regular Joes, please don’t be intimidated by the “cell phones R

us” crowd. This is a great spot for everyone to have lunch or breakfast.

And that has been the main goal of owner Kim Jorgenson.

When Jorgenson envisioned her own restaurant, her idea was to “share

the good memories of home in the Northwest as it related to food, where

anyone could come in and share in the spirit of Oregon dining.”

And oh, the food.

Thank God people in the Northwest get as hungry as I do for unusual

and authentic comfort food. Thank God again that someone opened a

restaurant and that I didn’t. This way we all get to enjoy it. And how

else would a Southern California beach community learn about the virtues

of marionberries, maple-cured pepper bacon, lemon curd pancakes and

salmon hash?

The lunches are hearty and heartening (two things I require in a

lunch), with interesting salads such as seared ahi nicoise ($10.95) and

grilled hearts of romaine salad ($8.95), with roasted hazelnuts and

Oregon blue cheese.

Try the menu’s listing of Adrienne’s Cannon Beach salmon chowder (I

forgot to ask who Adrienne was, my apologies). It is excellent and a meal

in its own right, including chucks of potatoes and salmon and served with

a rosemary scone. But don’t let the pan-fired Idaho trout cooked with

lemon butter capers and wild rice go untasted.

The lunch menu is an exercise in decision making. Good luck. One of my

usual is the black forest ham sandwich ($6.95) with chopped artichoke

hearts and sweet honeycup mustard.

Or just stop by to read the menu; there is no restaurant around here

with a menu like Plums. And it might make for much better writing if I

just listed it.

Breakfast is where Plums really shines, and the menu is an exercise in

temptation. Life doesn’t get any better than a platter-size Dutch baby --

a giant, airy pancake, with lemon and powdered sugar, accompanied by

marionberry jam for the ultimate indulgence.

My very favorite thing to order along with the Dutch baby is the

alderwood-smoked salmon hash ($14.95), served with poached eggs and

tomato-dill hollandaise. But I agonize every time over the hazelnut

pancakes and the lemon zephyrs, light lemon pancakes with lemon poppy

seed curd on the side.

Campfire trout, pan-fried and rolled in cornmeal, enjoyed with a

bloody Mary can cure whatever ails you, whenever it ails you.

The strawberry waffles, apple-honey sausage, Oregon pepper ham,

coconut French toast and Dungeness crab and asparagus omelet are waiting.

Anxiously.

Running a restaurant is very hard work and a sense of humor can be the

key to survival. Plums’ humor is evident in the children’s menu, and it

is my kind of humor -- which is to say only half of you will think it is

funny. But your child will be duly warned when he or she orders the

turkey sandwich, “turkey for the turkey, you are what you eat” and rest

assured, “no green stuff.”

The peanut butter and banana sandwich reminds you that “monkeys eat

bananas too.” My favorite, though, is the “bad cakes” ($4.86), a

strawberry pancake with fresh “spanked” cream. How great is that? I know

a few kids I would order this for.

Can you tell how enamored I am with this restaurant? In my opinion, it

has everything it takes to be good and the kind of menu it takes to be

great.

Rumor has it that dinner will soon be served at Plums. I am counting

the days.

FYI

* What: Plums

* Hours: Open daily for breakfast and lunch

* Where: 369 E. 17th St., Costa Mesa

* How much: Moderate

* Phone: (949) 722-PLUMS (722-7586)