Merchant Roots, which for six years has been delighting in-the-know diners with theatrical, wildly imaginative culinary experiences on a variety of themes, has just made a move to a massively bigger space — though dining experiences will remain intimate, multi-course affairs, with only two seatings per night.

Nestled in a Fillmore storefront since 2018, Merchant Roots grew out of a short-lived retail store that Chef Ryan Shelton opened, after years working in both fine- and casual-dining restaurants (Baumé, Chez TJ, Verbena). He soon began offering themed dinners for 10 or 12 around a single table with themes like The Elements (think Earth, wind, fire, etc.) and Vanity Fair (the novel). And that eventually grew into a small restaurant with multiple tables, but still only enough seats for 12 people per seating — and a closet-sized kitchen with just one induction burner and an electric oven.

The restaurant survived the pandemic, first by offering these elaborate experiences in a parklet. And with each new quarterly menu change came new sets of custom dishware — which quickly began accumulating in the space's one small storage closet. (A few examples can be seen in last fall's Time Travel menu.)

Earlier this year, Shelton began seeking out a larger space — not necessarily to add more tables, but to give the team the ability to experiment more in a fully equipped kitchen, and to be able to transition between menus more quickly. Menu changes in the original space could require two weeks of downtime — and losses of potential revenue — but with a real kitchen and more storage space, that could be reduced to just a few days.

He landed on 1148 Mission Street, a space between 7th and 8th streets that was most recently home to City Beer Store, but which was originally built out for Charles Phan's short-lived British concept The Coachman. It came with a fully equipped, exhibition kitchen near the entry, ample dining space, a large bar area, and additional space for refrigerators and a wine cellar — much of this left behind from the City Beer Store days.

There's also a small side room that could be used for "bonus" experiences with any menu. It's currently set up as a Bubble Room, with a machine that produces edible strawberry bubbles you grab from the air with your mouth — an evocative, child-like experience recreated from a Willy Wonka-themed menu. And a smaller room in the rear serves as a Workshop, where new dishware and other items can be created and tinkered with.

There's even a spacious front patio, walled off from Mission Street, with a faux fire pit, and one can imagine certain menu themes beginning with Champagne and a bite served here. The current menu, a "legacy menu" because Merchant Roots did it once before a couple years back, is Color Theory, and it begins with two courses in the wine cellar room: "Gold," featuring a corn-miso ebelskiver, popcorn, and buttered corn pudding served on custom gold-painted corncob skewers; and "Pink," featuring a sparkling, clarified watermelon gazpacho served like a beverage.

The stunner courses, visually at least, from the Color Theory menu include the "Blue" course — which features some theatrical dry ice "fog" over blue-hued mussel shells, as well as a dish of blue corn hominy grits, crab, and hackleback caviar. "Orange" is delicious, beautifully conceived and spicy monochromatic course of puffed carrot chips, Japanese-style Dynamite sauce, salmon crudo, trout roe, and preserved orange.

And bold spice runs throughout the courses of Color Theory — not something that's too typical in fine dining in general. The final savory course, "Red," features ultra-tender, braised shortrib served alongside some very spicy, Nashville hot-chicken-spiced potato croquettes.

And a final dessert course is the dramatic "Black" course, featuring a glazed, charcoal-black orb of Black Forest cake on a jet-black plate, with dark chocolate cookie crumbs.

Shelton has said in the past that one of his biggest inspirations is British chef and master of modern, molecular cuisine Heston Blumenthal, and that he was always drawn to the science of food, and how such experiments aid in telling a story on a plate.

"[Blumenthal] has an incredible aptitude for using science to inform his cooking, and his series of 'Feasts' are so much fun; they definitely inspired my theme-focused approach at Merchant Roots," Shelton says. "And while I’m passionate about finding the perfect ingredients and manipulating them to embody our menu themes, for me, the real prize is to tell a story and take people on that journey with us through food."

Shelton is aided by a team of young chefs, who each have an opportunity to contribute dishes and elements to a menu — including Chef de Cuisine Christopher King, who worked in the kitchens of Maum, Madera, and Kin Khao. And wine and beverage pairings are handled by talented beverage director Christine Hirtzel, who has been with the team now for several years, whose selections tend to be globe-spanning and thoughtfully paired.

And of the new space, Shelton says, "This is much more than a physical move. The new space enables us to dive deeper into our creative possibilities and serve a meal that can genuinely be classified as an adventure."

Your adventure awaits.

Merchant Roots - Opens Friday - Find reservations on Tock

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