Dining Design Diary: Plow in SF
Author:Lindsey Shook 
I like to think I get around town to check out the new restaurants, but truth is I’ve been a bit spoiled lately with all the tasty new places opening up within very convenient stumbling distance from my Civic Center condo. All the easy trips to SoMa (Citizen’s Band, 25 Lusk, Bar Agricole), downtown (Wayfare, Sons & Daughters) and the Mission (Commonwealth, Hog and Rocks, The Summit) have succeeded in shrinking my regular stomping grounds, and turns out I’ve been missing something.
This past weekend some old friends were in town and they suggested we meet for brunch at Plow in Potrero Hill. I’ll admit that it wasn’t without grumbling that I donned my rain jacket and switched into my lowest gear to climb the hill up to the corner of 18th and Texas, but what I found was well worth it.
Plow is the passion project of Joel Bleskacek and Maxine Siu. Together they turned a former architecture office into a sunny, modern-meets-Midwest eatery complete with salvaged wood floors (laid diagonally. love.) and tables made from French oak barrels. A huge wall-length window that looks out onto a mature tree, country-white wainscoting and an oversize pastoral photograph make the more standard modern elements—steel stools and chairs and a line of clean, white pendant lamps—stand out and feel fresh. Speaking of standouts, the orange-and-ricotta pancakes were so light and fluffy I could’ve demolished three servings, but luckily my fried-egg sandwich arrived and successfully forced me question my allegiance.
And although I felt a little guilty for nearly missing this gem due to my recent geographical snobbery, I was completely absolved when I heard the owners were something of neighborhood loyalists themselves. Their own equally adorable house is just up the block, as is their other business, Ruby Wine Shop. And when it came to hiring the design and construction crew, they stuck strictly to workers within their own 94107 zip code. So I guess there’s nothing wrong with being a local girl, as long as you skip town every once in a while to see what’s cookin’ up the road.
