Technicolor tasting

Merchant Roots (SoMa)

RESTAURANTS • FOUND Table

The Backstory: Originally founded in the Fillmore in 2018, Merchant Roots moved to a new, much larger location in SoMa in August, but kept its program of whimsical seasonal menus intact.

The Experience: For the new space’s first fall menu, chef-owner Ryan Shelton flipped back to a classic theme, Color Theory, preparing 10 monochromatic courses ($180 per) paired with a Spotify playlist for two nightly seatings of 12 diners each. On a recent visit, guests gathered in the front courtyard (outfitted with a kitchen garden and firepit) before being walked back through the open kitchen, seating area, and bar to a workshop filled with tools.

In the workshop, the first bite was “Gold,” a couple of corn ebelskivers (Danish pancakes) on a skewer. Moving to the bar, a frothy strawberry concoction for “Pink.” Finally sitting down for dinner, a standout course was “Blue,” which Shelton said was an effort to move beyond the idea of blue as a metaphor for depression and instead as a way to reconsider the depths of the ocean. That means a deep blue Oaxacan calabash housing inside a blue corn grit souffle, topped with briny Dungeness crab and inky Osetra caviar. Indigo-tinted beurre blanc butter sauce completes the dish, which is balanced on top of mussel shells and overflowing with dry ice smoke.

Not all the courses were even, and the pageantry doesn’t always land. The team occasionally shouts “yes, chef!” in unison. The biggest bobble was the Strawberry Bubble Room, which felt like Instagrammy schtick from the Museum of Ice Cream. But most of the food is unique and provocative, and it’s exhilarating to see a chef embracing the theater of fine dining in this risk-taking fashion.

Why It’s FOUND: There’s certainly nothing else like Merchants Roots in SF. Now that the team has settled in, the winter menu has the potential to be even stronger. Catch the last of Color Theory in December, or start with Humpty Dumpty in January. Inspired by the English nursery rhyme, it looks like they’re planning to break yolks and smash plates. –Becky Duffett

→ Merchant Roots (SoMa) • 1148 Mission St • Wed-Sun • Reserve.