COMMONWEALTH >

The food at Commonwealth is by turns gorgeous and goofy. Starting with a complimentary bowlful of seaweed-dusted potato chips with foamy malt vinegar sauce feels like being let in on a private joke. The dishes, organized on the menu according to temperature, are an exercise in mindfulness, asking you to take your time to notice how uncommon textures and flavors mingle in your mouth. Heirloom carrots ($17) are roasted over hay to Fig Newton tenderness and then crusted with sesame seeds that complicate the bite. And julienned squid “noodles” ($22) are layered with ingredients full of poetic aromas, like uni and chrysanthemum. A cool thing: Commonwealth identifies as a “progressive” restaurant, and it’s important to note the wordplay involved here: Yes, chefs Jason Fox and Ian Muntzert use modernist techniques, all the foams and tweezers, to inform their menu. But the other, more political meaning of “progressive” speaks to the restaurant’s charitable model of operations — a portion of tasting menu sales goes to nonprofits and activist organizations, and more than $400,000 has been raised during its nine years of business. The restaurant offers a distinct way for similar establishments and their patrons to engage with the community around them. Order: The tasting menu ($100) is a relatively affordable choice; wine pairings, from a list that favors the natural, bump it to $165. Commonwealth offers a nonalcoholic pairing too.

2224 Mission St., San Francisco. 415-355-1500 or www.commonwealthsf.com. Dinner nightly. Reservations and credit cards accepted.

— S.H.