25 Best Restaurants: The Plum

A magnet for young West Siders, the Plum came onto the scene in mid-2016 with floral wallpaper and millennial-pink banquettes ready for its Instagram and Snapchat close-up. Dishes such as fried chicken skins ($5) and raw pork tartare ($12) made it feel like we had discovered some whimsical wonderland of food. While the Plum’s aesthetic is still firmly in place, it’s grown up in its short lifespan to become a destination for a broader swath of diners. That’s led chef and co-owner Brett Sawyer to strike a definitive balance between familiar food and radical riffs on his impressively mind-boggling menu. “We continue to do our food the way we want to do it, but we’ve added some things that make it a little more accessible for people to come in,” he says. You’ll now find a steak sandwich ($14) with caramelized onion jam and Gruyere or dry-rubbed wings ($11) next to more adventurous options such as a monkfish liver pate ($6) served with lobster butter and a house-made brioche. But don’t worry — the playfulness of Plum still rings true. “I take something I love and that everyone’s very used to,” says Sawyer, “and put a twist on it to make it more ours.” 4133 Lorain Ave., Cleveland, 216-938-8711, theplumcafeandkitchen.com 

Try This:
With a purple shell, the beet taco ($7) pushes the boundaries of our fave hand-held snack with fillings of roasted beets, pickled beets, a buttermilk cheese sauce and a dab of fermented hot sauce.