Aubergine - Carmel
The dining room gets updated every January during the annual closure
Rating: 17/20
Where: Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA
When: Dinner for 2 on 28 August 2024
Cost per Person: Tasting menu $265, Wine Pairing $175-$250
Accolades: 2 Michelin Stars
Why: Flavorful Californian cuisine with Japanese influences
Carmel-by-the-Sea is a beach town about 2 1/2 hours south of San Francisco. The fact that it is frequently shrouded in fog doesn't seem to deter the numerous tourists that perennially descend on Carmel's charming downtown and frequent its quaint shops and restaurants. One of these restaurants, located in a hotel just off the town's main thoroughfare, is called “Aubergine”. It’s a restaurant that we’ve been to many times, even before it deservedly received its first Michelin star back in 2019. So we were quite happy to use Aubergine's second Michelin star as an excuse to come back.
I'm not sure whether the restaurant's name comes from someone's love for eggplant, or whether it is a play on the name of the hotel that it's in, “L'Auberge Carmel”. Either way, the kitchen has been helmed since 2011 by chef Justin Cogley, who crafts a flavor-intensive Californian cuisine that often makes great use of the abalone caught in nearby Monterey Bay.
When we arrived for our dinner at 5:02pm on an overcast Wednesday evening in late August, the first thing we noticed was that almost all tables were already occupied, even though the restaurant had only been open for two minutes. We took that as a good sign. On second look, there had been a few changes since our last visit in 2022. Most notably, the number of tables had been reduced from nine to six, making the previously cramped dining room feel much more comfortable. A fish motif on the walls was vaguely reminiscent of the shells decorating the walls at two-starred Providence in Los Angeles.
Aubergine served a six-course tasting menu whose contents were not revealed ahead of time, but were modified according to dietary restrictions. There was an option to add two ounces of Japanese wagyu to the main meat course for an additional $110. More choices: three wine pairings (one consisting solely of champagne), and a non-alcoholic beverage pairing. We went for the two “normal” (i.e. not-just-champagne) wine pairings, and were quite happy with both of them. Both included a couple wines that would sell at over $100 per bottle in a wine store, but in the case of the pricier pairing, it might be hard to find a place that actually sells them. Enjoyment-wise, though, the two pairings were pretty similar to each other, so there is no compelling reason to invest the additional $75 for the more expensive pairing.
Our dinner began with a tray of five amuse bouches. We ate them in clock-wise order starting at the bottom right. First, a red masa “taco” was filled with kampachi marinated in leche de tigre. This bite was surprisingly spicy, and reminiscent of a ceviche - presumably the reason why we were supposed to eat it first, to keep the fish from overcooking. The mini-tortilla was freshly made, but there was a bit too much of it relative to the fish 17. Next, we tried a small Pacific Gold Oyster that had been seasoned with black sesame, yuzu, lychee and spirulina (which explained the blue color). Probably due to the lychee, this dish was somewhat sweet, and the oyster taste ended up being pretty light 16. Blue fin tuna tartare sat on top of nori seaweed and was finished with a dollop of caviar and some fried seaweed. Flavorful, but a bit salty 17. A little tarlet contained chopped abalone, walnuts, coriander, romaine lettuce, Thai basil and shiso flowers. This was a fresh dish, kind of like a salad with a hint of sweetness 17. Finally, a crunchy cup was filled with A5 wagyu tartare and topped with shaved egg yolks. The beef was a bit salty, but otherwise this was a nice, simple bite 17. The pescatarian alternative for this dish was a cup filled with mushroom duxelles and topped with chopped pistachios. The mushrooms were much more flavorful than the beef, and the pistachios added a subtle nuttiness. My favorite among the amuse bouches 18.
This brought us to the first “real” course, which was arranged in the serving bowl table-side by chef Cogley himself. At the bottom of the bowl was a fermented potato cream, which was covered by a sheet of frozen gazpacho which in turn was topped with caviar and a cucumber salad. The different components went very well together, and made for a flavorful dish with saltiness from the nice caviar, iciness and creaminess. The potato cream was pretty light in texture - I wouldn't have guessed that potatoes were an ingredient 18.
A filet of kinmedai was prepared in a Japanese style using sizzling hot oil to make its scales crunchy. The base of the plate was covered with a chawanmushi that was flavored with Iberico ham and corn. On top were some pickled slices of summer squash, squash blossoms and seaweed. Dark bubbles in the sauce came from roasted leek ash. The fish was cooked perfectly, and its scales were nicely crunchy. The savory custard tasted just slightly of ham, and the zucchini were intensely flavorful and added some sweetness to the dish. At first, it seemed odd to have this dish served with an off-dry Riesling, but the sweet wine actually went quite well with the zucchini and the corn 18.
Grilled diver scallops from Hokkaido were served over carrot-juice-infused tapioca pearls, baby carrots, herbs, an emulsion of shiro-dashi and a carrot puree. Some steelhead roe sat atop the scallops. On the side came a brioche brushed with sea lettuce butter - it was meant to sop up the leftovers of the sauce. This was a rich, and intensely flavorful dish, that - probably thanks to the texture of the tapioca pearls - reminded me of The French Laundry's famous oysters and pearl dish. Not a bad league to play in. The scallops were firm, the tapioca pearls creamy, but the star of the dish was the sauce: buttery, with a bit of acidity and bursting with flavors. I could have eaten this sauce just by itself - amazing! The brioche was nicely crunchy, relatively light and not particularly flavorful by itself. Good, but not as good as the rest of the dish 19.
The first of two meat courses featured a dry-aged duck served with a duck jus. On its side was a mini “crepe” filled with duck leg confit and topped with a dollop of caviar. Further, there was a salad containing frisée, bib lettuce and plums. The meaty duck was pretty good, with most of its fat gone. It was topped by what looked like bee pollen, an interesting combination. Oddly, the steamed crepe was served at room temperature, and was not as flavorful as the duck itself. Finally, the salad was fresh, but very lightly sauced, and the plums were its most flavorful ingredient 16. The pescatarian replacement for the duck was an ora king salmon filet that came with pistachios, romano beans, caviar and a sauce of coconut, coconut oil and herb oil. The accompanying crepe was filled with persimmons, so that only the salad remained unchanged from the duck dish. The salmon was nicely flaky, but it and the accompanying beans were light in flavor. The crepe was somewhat nondescript and crumbly 16.
The main meat course featured a 32-day dry-aged rib eye that was served with a wagyu XO sauce containing abalone and Fresno chilies. On its side were a cippolini onion, watermelon radishes, herbs, and an eggplant puree. The meat and sauce were quite flavorful - meaty and a bit rustic compared to the other courses. The sides were lighter in taste and not as memorable 17. I also ordered the supplemental Japanese wagyu, which was sprinkled with rock salt and sake tamari. This was close to an ideal rendition of beef: perfectly cooked, and seasoned essentially just with salt. With beef of this quality, with its melt-in-your-mouth marbling and inherent meaty flavor, that's really all one needs 19.
The pescatarian alternative for the beef was a grilled Japanese black bass seasoned with lemon juice and lemon zest. It came with a root vegetable jus made from red wine, beets and carrots. The other sides were the same as for the beef. The fish was nicely cooked, a bit salty, but very tasty thanks to the lemon seasoning 18.
The meat/salmon course also came with a second serving of bread, this time a sourdough roll served with a cultured butter that was topped with puffed grains. The bread was really nice, very crunchy and together with the butter tasted almost nutty 17.
Concluding our dinner were a dessert and three petit fours, all served at the same time. The first petit four that we tried was kind of a palate cleanser: a melon sorbet topped with mint and a piece of melon. Sweet for a palate cleanser and with a clean melon taste 17. A mini cake filled with matcha and white chocolate ganache was a bit nutty 15. The restaurant's take on s'mores included milk chocolate, graham cracker bits and a meringue topping. It ended up tasting mostly of chocolate 16. Finally, the main dessert was a citrus sable topped by a panna cotta, black berries, white nectarines and a spherical baba cake. The panna cotta made this dessert a bit heavier than ideal, but the rest of the dish was light and fruity. The baba cake was fine 16.
The service we received throughout the night was very good. It was a nice touch to have several chefs come out to present dishes, but their recital of the dishes' ingredients unfortunately was often hard to understand.
Overall: A well-executed dinner of Californian produce-driven cuisine with Japanese influences. Dishes were consistently very flavorful, and for the most part also quite delicious - a few of them would not have been out of place in a three-star restaurant. Sadly, the desserts felt more like an afterthought, not really reaching the level of what came before. A very strong 17.
