Aubergine, Monterey - May 2026 - **
So we went to Aubergine for our anniversary this weekend and honestly haven’t stopped talking about it since. We’ve done a decent number of Michelin places at this point and this one is sitting near the top for both of us. Wanted to do a proper write-up because the meal earned it.
The place itself
Aubergine is inside L’Auberge Carmel, which is a couple blocks off Ocean Ave. The dining room is tiny, only five tables, and that ends up mattering a lot. It feels intimate without being stuffy. We didn’t feel rushed once the whole night, which felt nice.
Drinks
We did the zero-proof pairing and I want to talk about it first because it deserves the attention. Neither of us has had a non-alcoholic pairing that even comes close to this. Every single drink was clearly made for the dish it sat next to, and they actually had real shape and progression to them, not just “here’s a fancy juice.” There was even a pour from the Kally x SingleThread collab, which I did not expect to see on an NA list at all. If you’re not drinking for whatever reason, get it. They take it as seriously as the wine.
Plating and the room
There’s this kind of unspoken rule in fine dining that you don’t put things on the plate you can’t eat. Aubergine just ignores that and it’s honestly so much better for it. Each plate looked like a tiny piece of the Monterey coast. Real plants, real shells, real little landscapes. The plates themselves carry meaning too, the cutlery is gorgeous, and the abalone course came on actual abalone shells which our server Katie ended up giving to us afterwards as a keepsake. Still kind of in disbelief about that.
One thing the team really leans into is the element of surprise. The reveal of each dish, the way the servers narrate the inspiration behind it, the little theatrical touches, it’s all built to make you go “oh wow” before you’ve even taken a bite. We absolutely loved it. The one small caveat, and this is a tiny note rather than a real complaint, is that with only five tables and our seating angle, we could see and sometimes overhear the dishes being brought out to other tables before ours, depending on the size of their party vs ours. So outside of the opening amuse-bouche sequence, we saw most of the courses coming a beat before they arrived in front of us. Still magical, still genuinely pleasant every single time, just something to be aware of if surprise is a big part of what you’re chasing with a meal like this.
The food
Okay, going dish by dish because there’s no other way to do this. The opening is a sequence of small bites they call “gifts from the coast,” then the main run, then desserts.
Gifts from the coast:
• Bluefin tuna, nori, beet. First bite of the night and they absolutely set the tone with this one. The beet brought this deep earthy sweetness underneath the tuna and the nori tied everything back to the ocean. The kind of opening bite that makes you immediately trust the kitchen.
• Crustade, black cod, smoked trout roe. Genuinely melted in our mouths. The shell was so delicate and the cod was almost whipped. The roe popped against everything. Could’ve eaten ten of these.
• Wagyu tartar, mustard, caviar. Rich but not heavy. The mustard kept it from being too much and the caviar was the cherry on top.
• Morro Bay oyster, hominy, poblano pepper. This was a fun one. The hominy gave it a soft sweet thing underneath and the poblano was warm rather than spicy. Definitely felt very California.
• Hamachi, blue masa, leche de tigre. Served in this little blue masa tortilla-style shell that you pick up and eat in one bite, which made it really playful. The leche de tigre was zippy and the whole thing tasted like a fancy beach taco in the best possible way. Genuinely fun to eat.
Main courses:
• Abalone, heirloom asparagus, koshihikari rice, coconut, caviar. Served warm which we loved. The rice was almost like a really tender risotto and the abalone had a perfect bite to it. Comforting and luxurious at the same time, which is a hard thing to pull off.
• Amadai, cone cabbage, chawanmushi, bouillabaisse. This is where the meal really got us. The chawanmushi was silky and the bouillabaisse was so deeply flavored, and together they had this heartiness that I really wasn’t expecting from a tasting menu. We both kind of looked at each other like “okay, this is going to be a great night”
• Diver scallop, charred onion, white dashi, artichoke. The scallop was great, but the real moment was the laminated brioche they bring out alongside it. They tell you to eat it with the dashi. If I could eat that brioche dipped in that dashi every single day for the rest of my life, I would do it. absolutely no question, I’m still thinking about it.
• Roasted California duck, chimichurri, capers. This course had one of the coolest reveals of the night. They bring out what looks like a pot of flowers and you literally pull the duck heart out of it. The heart itself was incredible, super tender and rich, probably the best part of the dish. Honestly, the filet was a little tougher than we’d hoped and the only underwhelming part of the night, though the flavor was still really good and the chimichurri and capers brightened everything up. Mixed bag for us, but the heart moment alone made it worth it.
• 32 day dry-aged ribeye, fava bean, ramps, pickled mustard. The fava bean was so tender and light and it balanced the whole plate. The pickled mustard and ramps cut the funk of the aged beef in a really satisfying way. They also brought out this sourdough with butter and a house jelly that I did not realize I needed.
•Snap pea, strawberry, fennel. Reads simple on the menu, eats extravagant. It’s snap pea with strawberry foam and fennel ice cream and it tastes like springtime on the coast. Loved this one.
• Pumpkin seed ice cream, honeycomb, sesame. The actual dessert. My honest reaction was “this is like a really elevated Cold Stone” and I mean that as the highest compliment. Nutty, toasty, just sweet enough.
The surprises at the end:
• Anniversary strawberry cake. The pastry team sent out a surprise cake for us and we were genuinely caught off guard. Small thing, huge feeling. Thank you to the team behind that.
• Petit fours. Lemon, chocolate, and a pretzel truffle. The pretzel one stuck with me. Salty-sweet thing going on.
• Chocolate bars to take home. They sent us off with bars to bring home with us. The kind of small detail that just makes you feel taken care of.
Service
The whole team was great but Katie made the night. She was warm, funny, and made the room feel like we were hanging out with a friend who happens to know the menu inside out. After dinner she gave us the abalone shells as a keepsake and wrote out a personal list of her favorite spots around Carmel and Monterey for us to explore the next day (Ad Astra Bakery, Alta’s Garden, Chez Noir’s bar, Buds at La Playa, Colette’s Ice Cream, Carmel Surf Shop, Adam Fox, Grove Emporium, and the Snack Shack at Lovers Point). That is genuinely above and beyond and we will be working through that list every time we come back.
Also worth mentioning: because the room is so small, both the chef de cuisine and Justin Cogley came by our table during the night to walk us through some of the dishes and where the inspiration came from. You almost never get that kind of access at this level. It made the whole thing feel even more personal.
TL;DR
Aubergine for our anniversary, the zero-proof pairing was the best NA pairing either of us has ever had, the laminated brioche with the scallop ruined other bread for us, the duck heart pulled out of a pot of flowers was a top moment of the night, Katie made the entire night, and we’d come back to Carmel for this restaurant alone. Big thank you to Katie, the kitchen, the pastry team, and Justin Cogley.
Also, sorry in advance for any blurry photos. The lighting in the dining room is gorgeous and warm but not exactly camera-friendly at times, and we were a little too into the moment to keep fussing with the shots.