{"id":402346,"date":"2026-07-17T15:55:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:55:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/402346\/"},"modified":"2026-07-17T15:55:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T15:55:12","slug":"good-taste-42-dishes-in-one-meal-merchant-roots-did-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/402346\/","title":{"rendered":"Good Taste: 42 dishes in one meal? Merchant Roots did that"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good Taste celebrates the world-class Bay Area food scene. This week, learn about how San Francisco restaurant Merchant Roots<\/a> creates a dinner experience unlike any other. . .<\/p>\n

Guests at SoMa restaurant Merchant Roots\u2019 Around the Summer in 42 Plates<\/a> are presented with a menu in case they want to see what is coming, or they can elect to be surprised. I won\u2019t share too many dish details because of that, but my photos could be mild spoilers!<\/p>\n

At this dinner, 42 petite bites are served in 11 waves, including some dishes prepared at the table. A representative highlight is when chef-owner Ryan Shelton made my dinner companion and I a plate of corn ice cream with liquid nitrogen on a cold stone, finishing it with lime zest, flaky salt, and a dash of powdered chili.<\/p>\n

\"\"Merchant Roots\u2019 Ryan Shelton makes Cold Stone corn ice cream.<\/p>\n

Dessert is never an afterthought with this crew; our meal had six different ones. Though the pace is fast, the cumulative effect was that of gentle satiation.<\/p>\n

Shelton talked about how the food, d\u00e9cor, house-designed plateware, and music change drastically with each theme, and how everyone in the kitchen contributes ideas. It was an extra privilege to hear the staff take pride in speaking to the guests about different courses that they created or overseen.<\/p>\n

\"\"Amuse-bouches: cucumber watermelon slush, tomato H20 ceviche, avocado chawanmushi, kimchi peach<\/p>\n

\"\"Appetizers: popcorn grits, nix cherry tomato with mole, Nardello tatela, miso hot stone eggplant<\/p>\n

Music keeps the theme strong. Songs we heard include \u201cSummer Breeze\u201d by Seals and Crofts, \u201cSummertime\u201d by The Zombies, Sly & The Family Stone\u2019s \u201cHot Fun in the Summertime,\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s Summer\u201d by Gladys Knight & The Pips, and Jimi Hendrix\u2019s \u201cLong Hot Summer Night.\u201d When we were moved inside after having half of the meal in the outdoor courtyard, clips from cult summer movies played on walls inside. An open kitchen allows glimpses of what\u2019s coming next.<\/p>\n

\"\"Merchant Roots\u2019 courtyard. <\/p>\n

\"\"All the hardware you need<\/p>\n

Around the Summer in 42 Plates runs through Oct. 3 and is regularly priced at $238. There\u2019s also a thoughtful Pay What You Can Night<\/a> on the first Tuesday of each month; reservations are required for all. (Disclosure: Merchant Roots hosted my experience.) Next up for Merchant Roots is Luxury Ingredients & Acquired Tastes (Oct. 5-Jan. 12), a theme that includes five \u201cVivaldi Nights\u201d set to the 12 movements of \u201cThe Four Seasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Grilled stone fruit salad<\/p>\n

\"\"Squash blossom shaved ice<\/p>\n

There is a charitable model at play here as well: Merchant Roots employees get to pick a nonprofit to donate $6 from each meal. The current org is San Francisco\u2019s DISH<\/a> (Delivering Innovation in Supportive Housing), which provides permanent housing and support for chronic health issues.<\/p>\n

\"\"Oaxacan mole bonbon<\/p>\n

I feel San Francisco is lucky to have a place as playful and skilled as Merchant Roots. The diner emerges with an understanding of the collaborative effort and imagination that it takes to create such extraordinary nights, in summer and beyond. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Good Taste celebrates the world-class Bay Area food scene. This week, learn about how San Francisco restaurant Merchant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":402347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-402346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402346","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=402346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/402346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/402347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=402346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=402346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=402346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}