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La Plume
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La Plume is as light and soft, glamorous and naturally beautiful as its namesake. A brasserie serving up the flavours of southern France, it caters to diners with gorgeous rooms, textbook plates of food, and a delectable secret every visitor should make it their mission to uncover.
Walk into La Plume, Oliver & Bonacini’s latest addition to The Well, and it’s immediately obvious that high design was as important to the team as quality on the plate.
Throughout the enormous, two-level space, rich colours and statement lighting meet custom tiles, while decorative brass mullions turn windows into art. With birds and their feathery plumage lending gentle inspiration to the restaurant’s look and menu, the team at Solid Design Creative peppered the space with subtle nods to elegant oiseaux.
Upstairs, a sophisticated, Bordeaux-hued room bleeds into a light-flooded indoor/outdoor terrace complete with brasserie chairs, a proliferation of greenery and the unmistakable feeling of a sunny French afternoon.
“We wanted a point of difference,” to neighbour Le Sélect Bistro, says chef de cuisine Navinder Saini, of the concept that gave birth to La Plume’s menu. “We decided to focus on southern French food. Nobody is really doing that. It’s a lighter, more feminine version of French food, with lots of fish, Mediterranean flavours and less butter.”
Beyond the flavours themselves, “the south is more rural, loose, louder, almost,” laughs Saini. “We wanted to make dishes that would encourage you to eat as friends or family, in a more communal way.”
Despite its prim and pretty look, La Plume is, at its heart, meant to feel accessible to everyone, at any time of the day. “Come with your family for a Sunday meal, or come during the week for a quick lunch,” says Saini. “During the week at happy hour,” he adds, “it’s a proper brasserie. Very boisterous. Upstairs is always more civil.”
With drinks half off, it’s no wonder that La Plume’s daily happy hour brings out diners’ animated sides. It also brings about indecision, thanks to the restaurant’s loaded, French-leaning wine list, and summery, spritzy cocktails.
Frothy and punchy, Sur La Plage is the type of easy libation that turns any moment into a languid affair. Equally fresh, Qu’Est-Ce Que is a fruity sparkler made for coastal living.
For the Riviera Spritz, the team swirls St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur, bubbly, a burst of lemon, lavender and thyme syrup into a bright, sweet sipper with a whisper of herbs and flowers running through every drop.
With a menu of southern French dishes influenced by Italy, coastal Spain, and northern Africa, plates at La Plume may not gel with some diners’ idea of typical French food. Yes, you’ll find Croque Madame and Steak Au Poivre, but you’ll also find pastas and socca, lablabi and burrata sided by heirloom beets and rhubarb.
Available individually, but better ensemble, tartare is served here in less common iterations, like scallop and mushroom, along with traditional beef.
As an appetizer or main, with frites, Scallop Tartare is vivid and sweet, clean and inviting. Marinated and roast mushrooms, plus a dollop of truffle crème fraiche, give Mushroom Tartare its oomph, with harissa and a sous-vide egg lending Beef Tartare worldly charm.
Sourced from Oyster Boy, premium oysters make the rounds, with house Tabasco and red wine mignonette. Die-hard fans take note: the team shucks briny bivalves for half price, daily between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
With its profoundly beefy base, laced with Port, brandy and red wine, and cap of Gruyère, Emmental and cheese curds (for epic pulls), classic French Onion Soup is a must-have on every table, no matter the season.
Surprisingly (or not) so is Rôtisserie Cauliflower Salad. With the rotisserie taking pride of place among the kitchen team’s arsenal of tools, it should probably not come as a shock that this salad is rousing and entirely impossible to ignore. With subtly smoky edges that meet creamy herbed labneh, and capers, currants and harissa lending pops of acid, sweet and heat to each bite, you might not want to share.
Mains also inspire greed, though are best approached as shared plates that allow everyone at the table to sample myriad arresting morsels. Dressed with leek vinaigrette and lemon, Seared Whole Branzino easily captures the restaurant’s raison d’être. One could imagine eating (almost) the entire thing before slipping into the sun-slicked waters of the Mediterranean Sea to cool off.
If you take an anti-chicken stance when dining out, it’s time to reevaluate that approach. One glimpse of chef Saini’s lustrous, chestnut-hued, organic Giannone Chicken, and you won’t need much convincing. In the same way that celebrities defy much of what defines the human body, these chickens are more gorgeous, juicier, more tender and more, well, chickeny than any poultry you’ve ever met.
“There’s always a neighbourhood chicken shop in the south of France,” says Saini, explaining why roast chicken was an obvious choice for La Plume’s menu. It’s doubtful, though, that the chicken served at those neighbourhood shops has even half the allure of these brined, rotisseried beauties.
Part of the steak frites selection, Côte de Boeuf is a 24-ounce slab that arrives to the table with green beans, slender fries and diners’ choice of béarnaise or shallot jus. Prepared simply, this carnivore’s dream come true is the essence of quality matched with considerable skill.
By now, diners will have noticed that, beyond feathers and the south of France, the underlying theme of La Plume is simply good cooking. Dessert, then, is required eating. Order the Paris Brest (supposedly, meant to feed two), for a delightfully creamy and composed, hazelnut-infused final course. Or, delve into the unknown with a Chocolate Marquise crowned with crème fraiche and a tidy puddle of fruity Frescobaldi Olive Oil. Trust the team here: they know what they’re doing, and you won’t leave disappointed.
In fact, maybe you’d like to linger? Head towards the bathrooms, then make your way to the final door in the row. Dinner might be over, but venture onward and you’ll find that La Plume still has plenty left to discover.
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