In L.A., he had one of Esquire’s ‘Best New Restaurants.’ Now chef to open Boise bakery.

After working in restaurants for decades coast to coast, chef Lincoln Carson might have thought he’d seen it all.

Then 2020 arrived. Now he’s seeing the Boise Foothills each morning.

Mérité Bake Shop, his new virtual-kitchen bakery, opens at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Meridian. It’s one of the newest culinary partners under the Crave Delivery umbrella.

For Carson, it’s the latest opportunity in a roller-coaster year that’s brought him to Idaho for the next few weeks.

An acclaimed pastry chef, Carson has a resume that ranges from Le Bernardin in New York City to Picasso at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. In 2019, he opened his own ambitious spot, Bon Temps, in Los Angeles’ Arts District. A “modern French brasserie with industrial roots,” it was chosen as one of the nation’s “Best New Restaurants” by Esquire.

Then COVID-19 hammered the industry. Less than a year after Carson’s dream began, it ended.

“We had such critical acclaim at Bon Temps,” he says. “Unfortunately, the timing couldn’t have been worse.” Days after Carson permanently closed the restaurant, he was named one of six national finalists for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef — his first time ever. “It’s funny,” he says with a chuckle, “because some of my proteges have actually won!”

Nowadays, awards are the furthest thing from his mind. Carson is busy sourcing ingredients and finalizing the Mérité menu at Crave Collective, a massive kitchen facility at Ten Mile Crossing in Meridian. “We’re super excited,” he says, phoning from an employee break room.

Boiseans should be excited, too — if they enjoy delicious things brought to them. Like other Crave restaurants, Mérité Bake Shop does delivery and takeout, but there’s no on-site dining. Customers order food using the Crave Delivery app.

Breakfast pastries and muffins will comprise a significant part of the menu. But Mérité Bake Shop will be dessert heavy at first, Carson says, until everything is up and running.

Many Mérité selections will be inspired by creations at Bon Temps. “It’s all evolution, right?” Carson says. And whether it’s a small tart or a portion of layered mousse cake, the goal is “everyday opulence,” he adds.

The menu will feature afternoon pick-me-up sweets for “the guy sitting in the office who needs a couple of cookies with his coffee to get past the 3 p.m. doldrums,” Carson says. A Valrhona Chocolate chunk cookie with walnuts and sea salt will do the trick. Or maybe a Meyer lemon tart with yuzu and violet?

Initially, Mérité will open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., serving desserts. Once breakfast pastries are added, it will open earlier — between 7 and 8 a.m., Carson says.

Crave Delivery is available in Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Nampa, Caldwell, Kuna and Star. It costs $4.99 and includes all Crave eateries. Customers can order a traditional meal from a place such as Elliott’s Oyster House or Tony G’s Pizzeria, then add a decadent Mérité dessert. It all arrives at the door at the same time.

“There’s absolute synergy there,” Carson says. “But I think the idea is that there are plenty of people who just like dessert. We are going to be producing in such quality that it should stand alone. It’s going to be something special.”

The Idaho location is the only Mérité Bake Shop. But as Crave expands to other states, Carson plans to take the Mérité brand along for the ride, he says.

Before returning home to California next month, he’ll fine-tune Mérité’s menu to suit Idaho’s palate. Whatever those preferences might be?

“It’s a little shot in the dark to see what the local tastes are here,” Carson admits. “I have worked in multiple markets in the U.S. You can take a guess. .... Some markets may want something a little more balanced and acidic ... where other markets I can do the ooey gooey sundae.”

“But the hope is,” he says, “if we just produce really excellent products, people will respond positively.”

This story was originally published November 17, 2020 at 4:00 AM.