Merchant Roots is making a big move this summer, upscale Indian spot TIYA has opened in the Marina, and we get a Chronicle review of the hot new Chinatown spot Four Kings.
Merchant Roots, the extremely creative, rotating-themed tasting-menu restaurant that has resided in a small and modest storefront space on Fillmore for six years now, is relocating to a larger space in SoMa. Chef Ryan Shelton and his team are taking over the former City Beer Store space at 1148 Mission Street, between 7th and 8th streets — which way back in 2014 was also home to Charles Phan's short-lived The Coachman. As Eater reports, starting in August, Merchant Roots will do its two seatings a night at the new space — but the experience will remain intimate, Shelton says, serving just 12 guest at a time. Later, Shelton plans to open a bar area in the space, where walk-in guests can enjoy low-ABV and non-alcoholic cocktails as well as wine alongside plant-based snacks. The reopening menu will be a revival of the Color Theory menu that Merchant Roots first did in 2020.
New modern Indian restaurant TIYA, which we first told you about last month, is now open in the former Maybeck's space (3213 Scott Street) in the Marina. It's a first solo venture for chef brothers Pujan Sarkar (formerly of ROOH) and Sujan Sarkar (of Chicago's acclaimed Indienne), and focuses on New Indian cuisine with some California twists. A four-course, $90 tasting menu is available by reservation, and allows for vegan and vegetarian options, and an a la carte menu will be available nightly at the bar. Dishes include a goat ghee roast taco, lamb keema, and a morel malai with stuffed baby zucchini. See the menu and make reservations on Tock.
SoMa's Pizza Squared (885 Brannan Street) has closed. "Our family has started a new chapter in the East Bay and we look forward to exploring it," the owners say in a notice posted to the door and picked up on Reddit.
Also, the Lower Haight's Iza Ramen has closed after nine years in business. A posting on Reddit shows the owners' goodbye note, which says, "We will miss everyone but all things must come to an end."
The Chronicle's MacKenzie Chung Fegan published a review of Four Kings on Thursday, the hot new Chinatown restaurant from former Mister Jiu's chefs Franky Ho and Mike Long. It's basically a rave, and Chung Fegan writes that it's "one of the Bay Area’s most exciting restaurant openings in recent memory" and "it’s bound to secure spots on best new restaurant lists at the end of the year." She especially loves the XO escargot, and the Hong Kong-style baked pork chop rice.
Associate Food Critic Cesar Hernandez was on the Sonoma County beat this week and filed a review of Psychic Pie, a new sourdough pizza spot in Sebastopol. He raves that they make "exceptional sourdough [crust] and fun, off-the-wall topping combinations," and "Not only is the pizza shop one of the finest in the Bay Area, it is unrivaled for the Roman-style experience."
And in sad news, the Chronicle has an obituary for Steven Liles, a master bartender about town who did over a decade-long stint at Smuggler's Cove before moving on more recently to Bear vs. Bull at Alamo Drafthouse — a job that he left in March before falling ill. Liles, who was 55, was named Imbibe Magazine’s bartender of the year in 2017, and he was known around the local restaurant industry for his generosity, empathy, and encyclopedic knowledge of cocktails.
Top image via Merchant Roots/YouTube