Introducing Merchant Roots: A Culinary Journey in San Francisco

Came here for the Humpty Dumpty themed dinner and I can't recommend them enough. The reservation system was easy and they do 4 dinners a week so book ahead of time as the restaurant is very intimate and they do book out. The dining experience is so unique with combining art and storytelling along with delicious and beautifully plated dishes. I was so impressed by the creativity that went around egg based dishes and the different non alcoholic drinks that came with the pairing. The dinner is served by the chefs themselves and they all work together to create the menu and accompanying art so you get to see several people's worth of creativity. All the dishes I had were very tasty and y favorite would have to be the broken rice dish in the beginning. You travel through different parts of the restaurant for different parts of the meal and it's just a very unique experience. Overall an incredibly date night out and I'll definitely be back to try their other dinners.

A dinner where I get to break things and tag the wall? SIGN ME UP. Saves me the trip to the Smash Room and I get to eat! In 2018, Merchant Roots started as an artisanal market and a year later, transitioned into a fine dining resto with themed dinners. Last fall, they moved into a much larger space (City Beer Store). Open for indoor dining only. Rezzies on Tock (tix are non-refundable). 12 seats only and two seatings a night (5:30 pm & 8 pm). Themed tasting menu changes every season (vegetarian & GF menus available). $185 pp with 22% service charge (gratuity), 5% SF mandate, and $5 order fee. Wine + non-alkie beverage pairing available. No hard alkie. F O O D 1st Visit (2/2019): "Elements" ($110 pp): https://tinyurl.com/mrv83svy Whimsical tasting menu of 9-courses inspired by outside elements like the sun, moon, air, fire, etc. Next level plating - baklava nest resting on real tree branches, bubbling dashi lava, dry-aged strip lone served on burnt wood slabs (made by the chef), and more. Lots of ooohhhhs and awwwwwws but we left a bit hungry. // 2nd Visit (1/2025): "Humpty Dumpty" ($185 pp) - Ends March 2025 (new theme starts April 2025) We visited the first night they rolled out Humpty Dumpty. The winter menu comprised of 15-courses inspired by the nursey rhyme with egg themed dishes. Dinner started at the bar area, moved into the main dining room with an open kitchen, and ended at the dessert lounge. 5+ stars for creativity but the food was a mixed bag. There were so many components that I felt it affected the texture and temperature of the food. And, while you get your monies worth, I was full before dessert. Trying to execute a new 15 course menu is a daunting task so maybe it was a matter of kinks. (1) Bar: "Break The Ice / Break A Leg" - YOU get to step on "eggshells" before being seated! - Salted Yolk Chips w/ leaf thai basil dip Light, crispy chips but didn't taste the salted egg yolk. Liked the punchy dip. - Squab Leg Musubi: https://tinyurl.com/ym4j6mm9 Cute baby musubi but it was dry, probably would have tasted better if served warm. - Tofu crepe frisée w/ honey mustard, chèvre: https://tinyurl.com/ytcywrjh Least fav starter, tofu crepe was cold and grainy. - Broken Rice w/ egg garum scramble, chili crisp rice grits: https://tinyurl.com/3p7v4tzk As a fan of cơm tấm (Viet broken rice), this was my fav starter with soft eggs and mild spiciness. - Egg Drop Soup They legit crack an egg with broth flying into the bowl. Their take on a French onion soup. - Green Eggs & Ham: https://tinyurl.com/5hcrpkfz Love the nostalgic Dr. Seuss plate but the terrine like ham & eggs were underwhelming and the chilaquiles felt out of place. (2) Dining Room: "Break Your Fast + Break The Habit" - Dippy Egg Churro: https://tinyurl.com/634frn3e Fav savory course, their take on egg and toast soldiers - light, airy, crispy "churros" with a rich, decadent eggy sauce. SO GOOD! - Smallest Ever Quail Egg Benedict w/ everything lox: https://tinyurl.com/4abf8t43 The silky lox was my fav component. - Egg Yolk Alla Carbonara: https://tinyurl.com/225f7zem Least fav savory course, the noodles had cooled and clumped together, while the yolk was too sticky to mix and incorporate into the pasta. - Beef Heart "Vitello" w/ sauce gribiche: https://tinyurl.com/4d2z6ehv Low-key tasted like pastrami, in a good way. - Farallon Island Uni Cioppino: https://tinyurl.com/t7ctmp9f Artfully plated on a broken plate, the deconstructed uni cioppino was tasty with the lush uni sauce being the highlight. Just wish the other components were warm. - Filet Mignon w/ broken bearnaise, marrow bone: https://tinyurl.com/4uj94cv6 Perfectly cooked, tender filet but the "marrow bone" seemed disjointed, like dry croutons with herbs. (3) Dessert Lounge: "Lucky Break" - Edible Shell w/ coconut, mango, passion mousse: https://tinyurl.com/2u82x73k Nice palate reset with the fresh tang of the passionfruit, but the shell was too hard and too sweet. - Warm Butter Cake w/ lemon meringue alaska: https://tinyurl.com/23werwrc Beautifully plated, this was my fav dessert of the three. Can't go wrong with butter anything! - Basque Cheesecake w/ caviar + gold: https://tinyurl.com/2m2cjbdp Fun interactive component of *smashing the glass* but I found the cheesecake dry and dense with the caviar being overwhelmingly fishy. The edible glass reminds me of haw flakes, a nostalgic chinese candy. =) S E R V I C E Refined, engaging, and efficient. Fifteen courses took ~2 hours. A M B I A N C E In theme, the space was playfully and tastefully decorated with broken mirrors, glass, plates, and cups. There was even a "wall" to tag on. P A R K I N G Two parking garages on the block: SoMa Grand and Trinity Garage. Overall, while I didn't love the food, I loved the experience at Merchant Roots. It was truly unique and one of a kind, and an enjoyable break from formulaic fine dining.

I'd been wanting to try Merchant Roots for a while but it can be hard to get reservations since they don't seat many people. Totally missed out on their previous theme focused on mushrooms so when I saw the next theme was egg-based, I immediately booked reservations two months ago for our dinner last week. The theme is actually Humpty Dumpty so besides eggs, there was also a focus on breaking things. My favorite thing about dinner was how creative they tried to be, even down to the plating. It was really interesting hearing how they even make some of it themselves to get exactly the effect they want. It all just added to the fun and uniqueness of the experience. I also wish I had paid more attention to the music since the playlist is curated to go along with the theme. Getting the paper about continued experiences was also a nice touch so we could see some of what inspired the courses. Foodwise, the courses could have been edited a bit. It feels shocking for me to say this but there might have been too much food haha. I felt bad because I couldn't finish the final dessert but almost everyone else struggled too (and a couple had already tapped out on finishing their closes earlier). And there were a few courses that didn't wow me so I felt like they could have been skipped. Or courses where the portion could actually have been smaller. But honestly I'm not going to complain much about having too much to eat when that's far preferable to ending a meal still hungry. My favorite courses were Breaking Bread (so fun picking out my egg holder and dipping my churros), Break His Fall (delicious carbonara and loved the handmade wall to set the scene), Broken Rice (the most delicious grits with soft luscious scrambled eggs), and Break the Bank (so fun breaking the "glass" and I love basque cheesecake). Honorable mentions to the bone marrow in Break a Bone, the tofu crepe in Broken Trust, and the oohing over lifting the egg to pour out the hollandaise in Break a Record (except my egg had toppled over when it was served to me so I didn't get to do it myself).

Extra extraordinary experience! Chef Ryan has created a marvel at his new location. Never have I been in a restaurant that is so luxurious spacious with only 11 other diners. I'm pretty sure there were weight staff and sous chefs than there were customers. The food is such a creative journey, in this case it was the color theory menu. The sense of whimsy and fun was a nice juxtaposition with the absolute serious intent of the entire endeavor. The lighting and music tracked to the menu which certainly was appreciated, but of course the star was the food. I have enjoyed many extra extravagant tasting menus at fine restaurants, and this lives up to some of the best. It is also quite reasonably priced considering the experience. They also have a wonderful selection of lions for purchase at very excellent rates. We plan to go at least two or three times a year!

Wow! One of the best dining experiences I've had in a while. And that's says a lot. If you know me, you know that I absolutely crave and embrace creativity in all forms. I applaud those who take risks bc to them it works and they're willing to go on a limb and hope it works for the masses. Merchant roots, my friends, has done this and beyond. The entire experience from to start to finish was a story, a color palette journey. Our theme was color. It start with Gold, corn, miso croquets with popcorn. Then white, a seafood type bisque. Green, was my fave, the potted plant with salad. So cute! Orange, carrot insipid. Blue, was a Smokey seafood, caviar, tamale tasting concoction. Yellow, fall foilage, brown, truffle pasta, and it went on and on. Every dish was plated with perfection. From the coordinating colored lights and protections on the walls. The decor and the whole layout added to the colorful theme vibe. Definitely worth a Michelin star. Def coming back for another themed dinner, thag change quarterly.

The Color Theory theme at Merchant Roots highlights the aesthetic of various colors through taste, texture, and technique. It is an expression of how they react to and thinks about color. The experience is done in scheduled seatings, so you'll be eating the same thing at the same time as everyone else in the restaraunt. The new space in SOMA is pretty large; it used to be the City Beer Store so there's a lot of alcohol storage and a bar. The night started off with a small tour of the restaraunt. There's an outdoor area for people to hang out if they arrive early or something (I have no clue, they didn't talk about it so I'm probably just talking out of my ass.) The open kitchen is in the front, but they first take us to a back room where the chef/owner is plating up our first snack/course. He talks about how they make their own plates etc. to fit their vision and then moves us into the wine storage/bar area. The first course, Gold, is a corn Æbleskiver, which was sort like a fried corn ball. Honestly, I don't remember anything about it other than the popcorn is sweet. Then, they pour us a Pink sparkling watermelon gazpacho. It is essentially salty soda. Next, they move the group to the main seating area. The tables are all faced towards the pass so we can see them plating the food as they introduce the dish and concept behind it. They come around and dust a mysterious White powder (creme fraiche snow, so they say... ;) ) onto a coconut poached sole. The fish is very melty and the soft coconut flavor works really well with it. The kimchi/pickled components are very salty. The next dish is a Green potted plant breaking free of its confines. The pot is made of freeze-dried vegetables, I think. It has a cardboard like texture, but the flavor is pretty good. The rest of the dish is a mixture of healthy tasting vegetables. Orange is some puffed carrot chips shaped into a carrot and a finely diced salmon crudo mixed with preserved oranges. The sauce under the carrot chips is pleasantly spicy. They introduce Blue as a color that isn't generally seen as appetizing as they give us food that has blue tints. Perfect. They come around and pour some liquid nitrogen around a blue corn and crab souffle to emulate the mist from the bay or something romantic sounding, idk I wasn't listening. It's very good. Yellow is a pile of dehydrated leaves. And some fruit. Brown is a black truffle, acorn and wild boar pasta with some bread and brown butter. It's as deep and earthy as you can imagine. As I eat it, I recall reading something about raw acorns being toxic (the ones served are cooked so no worries here!) Red is the best course of the night. It's a 72 hour sous-vide short rib with potato croquettes. The short rib is so so tender, you don't even need a knife to cut it, yet it still holds it's structure. They mention something about the croquettes being inspiried by hot chicken (the breading) but it's not spicy at all; it's very crispy on the outside and soft and pillowy on the inside. There are two dessert courses, the first being a deconstructed cheesecake with Violet blueberries and... kalamanta olives... The crust is like flavored saw dust and I don't like olives in my cheesecake. We rebound well with a Black forest chocolate mousecake. It looks so cool and has the perfect amount of sweetness and richness. And I don't even like cake. Forgot what it was but there are some crunchy crumb things to add texture. The night ends with some more sweets in the form of Skittles taffy and sherbet. Some of the dishes were a little too experimental for me, but that's part of what food is about: trying new things. It was great to hear the inspirations behind each dish. I might be wrong here, but each dish was introduced by a different individual, suggesting that maybe each person in the kitchen was able show their creativity and vision through their own course. I'm sure it was a team effort but it's cool to think that everyone got a chance to be the lead in one of the courses. I really enjoyed the experience and look forward to their next theme. Oh and on the way to the beautifully decorated bathroom, there's a small nook hidden behind a dark curtain. There's a whimsical area where if you press a button, bubbles float down from the ceiling. I didn't know they were edible(?) but my detective skills tell me they taste like strawberries, given the bright neon light in the shape of a strawberry on the wall and the sign that says something about strawberry madness.

What a fantastic food experience. Go in with an open mind and empty belly. Very small space in the Fillmore but it's filled with so much heart and soul. Chef run, historical and personal flourishes - like photos of their Nonna's on the wall. Wasn't sure about the theme Pasta and Stories mid-summer, but with the temperature drop yesterday it was welcome. Enjoyed every morsel. So many techniques, fresh herbs, fermented foods, lesser used proteins like oxtail and squab. Twists on classics which brought a smile to our palates. Natural wines are abundant and available by the glass. The parting gift is so well thought out just like the rest of the meal. Not sure how many services they have until they move to their new location in SOMA, but I will be back, still thinking about the whole evening. Truly a special dining experience.

Came for Pasta and Stories -- what a stunning experience. Easily one of my top fine dining experiences. Detailed breakdown below: **Service, 5/5** There are as many staff as there are patrons! With only 8 guests at a time (although they're moving locations and will do 12-person seatings soon), you're really well taken care of. Everyone puts so much care and effort into making it a memorable and interactive experience; truly makes for a special evening. **Decor & cleanliness, 5/5** Decor changes each season along with the menu and dinnerware, which adds to the intimacy and interactiveness of the meal. **Price & portion, 5/5** After tax and service charge, you'll be paying over $200/person. But this is seriously a one of one experience; highly recommend trying at least once! **Presentation of the food, 5/5** Mind. Blowing. From items you assemble yourself, to things set on fire, ingredients prepared in front of you, and a true homage to the theme, the care, thought, and effort put into each dish seriously shows. **Taste of the food, 5/5** Each of the 13 courses was fantastic in its own right, but some of the stand outs for me were the black cod, "twisted towels" with orange and fennel mousse, snake in the grass, and the angels & devils dish. So many pasta varieties I'd never had before, flavor combinations I wouldn't have even thought of preparing together, and takes on classics (snake in the grass as a twist on spaghetti and meatballs) made this one of the best dinner experiences I've had, and easily the most interactive. Can't wait to try their other seasonal themes!

Fungi ‍ Fan Merchant Roots in San Francisco is a one of a kind thematic and immersive dining experience Their dinner series rotate seasonally and I was fortunate to attend one of the last seatings for their mushroom-centric dinner, 'Into The Forest' Being a dedicated carnivore, I had my doubts about the evening's vegetarian menu (6-7 dinners in the series are typically vegetarian-only, while most cater to omnivores), but I approached it with an open mind The intimate space and whimsical decor had me smiling while the array of dishes and their preparation made me truly appreciate the diversity of a vegetarian meal Chef Ryan Shelton has crafted something truly unique and the experience is enhanced while meeting some of the friendliest and creative fellow diners I've shared a meal in a long time Thank you Merchant Roots for taking me into the forest and expanding my horizons King Trumpet Chips and Dip / Tofu Crudo & Porcini / Corycep Salad / Red Cap Mushroom Stuffing / Morels in XO / Shiitake Mushroom Parfait with Savory Caramel / Winter salad of Twigs & Mushrooms / Hen of the Woods Soup / Smoked Oyster Mushroom Braised Kabocha / Yellowfeer with Eggplant / 65° Quail Egg with Black Trumpet Puree / Tempura Enoki Agadashi / Fairy Ring Gnudi / Truffle with Oyster Mushroom Sausage / Chocolate Pot de Crème / Buche eclair / Candy Cap Ice Cream Merchant Roots (San Francisco, CA) Reservations are required on Tock and dining is indoor only. All credit cards including AmEx are accepted.