Unique Montclair restaurant, Plum on Park.
It’s hard to miss this wonderful purple restaurant on Park Avenue in Montclair. It is right before you hit Bloomfield Avenue; it’s small, but it’s an easily recognizable landmark due to its wonderful colors that make the name of the place. Plum on Park is a breakfast and lunch place on a couple of days during the week and on the big food nights of the week (Wednesday – Saturday) they are open to serve dinner as well. This little restaurant packs a big punch on your taste-buds and is one of the many great places to spend a day in the Montclair food scene.
Plum on Park was founded in October of 2010 and according to a waitress, Barbara, this eatery may not have even been established if it weren’t for the owner Natalie’s friends. “We opened up five years ago, actually on a dare,” said Barbara. “Her friends dared her to do it.” The owner’s friends challenged her to do it claiming that she would never open up a restaurant, and unbeknownst to them, she planned on taking the challenge head on. She told them to find her a space, they scoped one out for her, and then she did it in 2010. Luckily for the people of Montclair, she took the dare and now serves some of best breakfast in the area. She is also opening up a bakery on Claremont (name not yet known) that is all gluten free. So, anything on the Plum on Park menu is also able to be served gluten-free.
This brings us to the menu at Plum. Everything on the menu is made at the restaurant, and before it reaches the restaurant, the ingredients are homemade by the owner’s father. They serve a variety of breakfast sandwiches, lunch sandwiches/entrees, salads, fresh fruit juices/smoothies and wonderful sides. Their breakfasts on the griddle include eggs, English muffins, freshly made waffles, tender chorizo sausage with a taste that lingers and leaves you wanting more (strongly recommended), chicken sausage, Natalie’s signature gluten-free bread, Greek yogurt and much more. The entrees run anywhere from BLTs to burgers to zucchini spaghetti. Also, while you wait for your main meal, a side of the house made hummus with pita chips is strongly recommended, as well. Whatever you order from this menu will not dissatisfy you. That’s a guarantee.
If Plum on Park wasn’t on your list of places to get breakfast or lunch before, slap it on that list because it is a place that needs to be experienced in your time out in Montclair. It is a very nice looking place for an average price range and the purple theme makes it feel very welcoming. It is almost as if the purple is reeling you in. The indoor seating is very cozy, but if the weather is right, sit in the outdoor seating, it almost feels as though you are dining in another country. Plum will not disappoint those looking for a small, family owned eatery to stop at on their next out-on-the-town day, or just any day, because this is a place that can’t go untried.
*Editor’s Note on 12/16/16: The owner’s father is not at all involved in the restaurant nor creation of the products as everything is made from scratch. The bakery referred in the article is called, Plum Bakery located on 179 Glenridge Avenue Montclair NJ 07042.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login