{"id":170417,"date":"2026-02-09T14:42:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/170417\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T14:42:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T14:42:09","slug":"sfs-most-audacious-restaurant-is-spinning-off-a-12-seat-speakeasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/170417\/","title":{"rendered":"SF\u2019s most audacious restaurant is spinning off a 12-seat speakeasy\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

San Francisco\u2019s temple of whimsical molecular gastronomy is getting into the speakeasy game.<\/p>\n

Merchant Roots (opens in new tab)<\/a>, the high-concept SoMa restaurant known for dreaming up elaborately themed tasting menus that rotate four times a year, has unveiled a semi-secret bar with only 12 seats. Bar Orso (opens in new tab)<\/a> will operate inside the restaurant Tuesdays through Saturdays, open to both Merchant Roots diners and anyone looking for a fanciful drink made with eight ingredients or more. Unlike its parent, it won\u2019t be flipping concepts every three months. Instead, it\u2019s evergreen \u2014 in every sense of the word.<\/p>\n

The menu embodies the flavors of Northern California, says chef-owner Ryan Shelton, citing redwoods as his chief inspiration. But, as a spinoff of Merchant Roots \u2014 where one tasting menu was themed around broken eggs and guests have hunted for an edible fungus amuse-bouche hidden within a woodsy tablescape \u2014 Bar Orso is driven by a commitment to playfulness and endless tinkering. \u201cWe have a list of five drinks we\u2019ve taken our time to \u2018Orso-fy,\u2019\u201d Shelton says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AChef Ryan Shelton mixes a Golden Winter. | Source: Hardy Wilson Photography<\/p>\n

The signature beverage is an elaborate spin on the classic Fernet-and-Coke. Using nuts from a staff member\u2019s backyard tree, the team made nocino, a walnut liqueur. They combine it with cola and syrup made from foraged botanicals, including spruce tips and redwood needles. Then they \u201cspray a garnish, so you get a scent of walking through\u201d the trees, Shelton says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He keeps some common bar terminology at arm\u2019s length. For example, he prefers \u201clibation\u201d to \u201ccocktail,\u201d because he thinks the latter focuses attention on the base alcohol rather than the overall combination of flavors. Shelton also holds the term \u201clow-ABV\u201d in low regard. \u201cIt sounds like diet food and drink,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is not a less-fun version of the thing.\u201d <\/p>\n

As with Merchant Roots, the goal at Bar Orso is to take guests on a slightly wacky adventure, led by amaros, vermouths, and complex or unusual ingredients such as a toasted mushroom marshmallow or a frozen cucumber. If a libation happens to be gin-based, for example, the brand of gin \u201cis way less important to us than all the cool shit we put into it,\u201d Shelton says.<\/p>\n

\"AThe Spa Water is an amazake and mint tea cocktail served in a frozen cucumber. | Source: Hardy Wilson Photography\"AThe \u201cSmokey gets Sandy\u201d is Bar Orso\u2019s tiki drink. | Source: Hardy Wilson Photography<\/p>\n

The small \u00e0 la carte food program centers on a simple yet satisfying snack: a garlic-butter tri-tip sandwich. It\u2019s an ode to Santa Maria-style barbecue, as well as a nostalgic treat from Shelton\u2019s childhood in the South Bay. \u201cWe\u2019re cooking the meat over oak with charcoal,\u201d he adds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For all of Merchant Roots\u2019 culinary ambitions, Bar Orso didn\u2019t require an extensive buildout. Strictly speaking, the restaurant space, which was home to City Beer Store until 2022, always had a bar. Since Merchant Roots relocated there from its original, much smaller<\/a> location in the Fillmore, the bar had been put to use only sporadically. Now it will be open five nights a week, accommodating its own clientele as well as guests at Merchant Roots\u2019 two nightly seatings who may want a pregame beverage or a nightcap.<\/p>\n

Keeping two sets of guests separate \u2014 and minimizing sound bleed \u2014 while maintaining a welcoming atmosphere may be a delicate balancing act, requiring curtains, partitions, and some organizational prowess. It\u2019s the kind of challenge that Shelton and his team, who are known for a gregarious style of service, embrace. \u201cIf someone\u2019s at Merchant Roots and they want to order a cocktail from the bar, I\u2019m not gonna say no,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Bar OrsoOpening hoursOpens Tuesday<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"San Francisco\u2019s temple of whimsical molecular gastronomy is getting into the speakeasy game. Merchant Roots (opens in new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":170418,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[8697,416,412,101,103,102,104,106,105,1911],"class_list":{"0":"post-170417","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco","8":"tag-bars","9":"tag-cocktails","10":"tag-restaurants","11":"tag-san-francisco","12":"tag-san-francisco-headlines","13":"tag-san-francisco-news","14":"tag-sf","15":"tag-sf-headlines","16":"tag-sf-news","17":"tag-soma"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170417","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170417"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170417\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}