NOTHING IS BETTER THAN THE PLUM'S CHAI LATTES. DRIVE TO THE PLUM IN SACRAMENTO AND HAVE YOUR CHAI WITH HEMPMILK FOR
HINTS OF GRAINY JOY, OR WITH SOYMILK FOR CREAMY RICHNESS, OR WITH ALMOND MILK FOR SOME
NUTTY SWEETNESS. I WILL NOT STOP CAPITALIZING MY LETTERS UNTIL YOU FULLY
UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS:
CHICO
CHAI
*ahem*
I hated Sacramento, but The Plum is why pitching my just-graduated-from-college tent in SoCal meant commencing The Quest For The Perfect Chai. I hella missed my Chico Chai fix. Hella, dude. Like...hella.
I haven’t been to The Plum since its transformation from The “Sugar
Plum” to mere “Plum,” but presumably they continue to purchase their chai
mixture from the glorious (and relatively local) Chico Chai, and have not
lost the heavenly brew in the change of management.
On a related note: I hear The Plum now serves alcoholic beverages, which is not only nifty but also a handy
way to drown your sorrows if their other vegan-café-changes have turned out to
be for the worse. Which I doubt they have. There was definitely room for improvement, and my internet-lurkings have convinced me that the new management has been edging in the right direction.
Speaking of edging in the right direction:
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The cookies and cupcakes (still supplied by The Sugar Plum
baker, I believe) have always tended to be too sugary for my taste (and kind of
grainy in that sugariness). I don't like sweet, I like SPICY. Mmmmm, spicy chai...
Their desserts might not have been my cup of tea, but the salads and sandwiches/burgers were always
excellent. (Don't let my kind-of-amateurish old photograph of picked-at food deter you...that pie was actually really good, too. Rhubarb.) And the completely-unlike-carrot-cake cupcake I had here changed my
mind about carrot cake. I think. At least, I liked that carrot cake…I’m not
sure where I’m going with this, but I love carrots.
Hours: No idea, anymore. It's probably not hard to find out. Check their facebook?
Service: They hella used to love me back when I was a
regular…before I abandoned my NorCal roots. (Not completely though, amiright? Hellahellahella.) Also, they used to give you a fake fruit instead of a number as their means of tracking you down when your order was ready:
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| Perhaps they had to stop the fake fruit thing because people kept being tempted to bite their fapples (that's a portmanteau of fake-apples for ya, to be pronounced as you will). I know I came very close to a joking consumption of their fake grapes...but I shan't post the incriminating photograph here. |
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| Some lucky lady enjoying her iced chai in the nook, with a view of the front patio. Summers ago. |
Eatables: SO. GOOD. Kind of pricey, but the portions have always been muy
generous, dude. They do (did?) bottomless brunches and Taco Tuesdays annnd you should try
everything once because the only entree that’s disappointed me was the pizza (once!) and
I think that was a fluke.
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| That's a cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and ketchup...all vegan. Thank you, crispy fake meat patty and melty Daiya cheese. You are beautiful. |
People: Vegans.
Music: Reggae or dubstep or whatever the workers are
feeling at the time...they’ve been known to take requests.
Chico Chai, you NorCal siren. You beautiful, spicy, vegan elixir, clutched to my heart during many a cafe-lurk. Slow-sippable paradox. Simultaneous mind-exploding Escape into the hedonistic land of tingling tastebuds and comforting Home in a mug (or glass). So cheerily served, in such delightful surroundings...
I will never find your equal here in SoCal, Chico Chai. But I shall never tire in my search for a café (and a spicy chai) that might ease the pain of the distance that now separates me from your NorCal purveyors. (I'm too full of caffeine to tire. From all the coffee shops I've been visiting.) I'll give you updates on my quest every Tuesday or something. Don't wanna overload too soon and crash...
