AUBERGINE

Aubergine is the best fine dining experience in Carmel-by-the-Sea. The food, presentation, ambience, and service are all of the highest caliber and well-deserving of the recognition earned by this restaurant. Aubergine was more than accommodating of my personal request for plant-based options in lieu of their traditional prix fixe menu, and they exceeded my expectations. I would have to travel to New York to another world-renowned restaurant to receive the same level of consideration and experience a similar level of culinary excellence. My wife was able to enjoy the traditional prix fixe menu options while I was thrilled by the creativity of the kitchen. She informed me later that this was the first time Aubergine had catered to a complete plant-based course for dinner. Absolutely magnifique. We were also introduced to a terrific Sauternes by the sommelier, a novelty we hadn't explored before, but now embrace. Thank you to Chef Cogley and the entire staff for making our visit so memorable. We will return. John and Rhona

Aubergine is a fine dining gem. Its intimate dining room ensures that your table will receive plenty of attention from the staff. The wine and drinks list is ample. The sommelier is deliberate about the wine choices and has good information to share. The bartenders work far in advance of the meal to prepare bases for delicious cocktails and “mocktails.” The food itself is an inventive journey through local fare, vegetable-forward dishes, seafood, and meat. Desserts are beautifully crafted and help close out the meal. (My son had performed well in a chess tournament, and they made him a beautiful and delicious dessert that incorporated chess into the theme!) Our family has dined here now 3 years in a row and we already are looking forward to our next visit.

This is definitely one of the best one-Michelin star experiences that I have been to. The food is delicious and creative. I really enjoy sea food dishes. A couple of the seafood items remind me of those at Le Bernadine. Menu is seasonal. Wines are amazing. Service was top notch and of course includes that Michelin star bread crumb service. Ambience is classy. The restaurant is located in a very cute part of Carmel.

Dined in December 2022

Wine pairing price 250 USD (300 w/ default included tip)
Retail value 54
Markup 4.7x (Closer to 4x w/out errors, see below)

This is in the lower 20th percentile of value compared to the 34 pairings I've documented.

There are two pairing offerings, the basic for 175 and a reserve for 250 which was pitched as offering some older vintages.

Overall the wine offered was unique with offerings from Austria, Greece, France, California, and sake from Japan. Avg (retail) price per bottle served was 80. The pours were definitely on the smaller side, I took 2 sips before the amadai fish was served and almost ran out of wine. It wasn't clear that the last wine was to go over 2 dessert dishes and my partner ran out of wine before the 2nd was served. The oldest vintages served were 2012, 2013, and 2014, which pales in comparison to similarly priced tastings at 3-michelin star spots like Quince (275 in 2019) which offered pours from 1985, 1989, 1996, and 2006.

According to the menu that we asked for at the end, we realized that they didn't bring us the first pairing w/ the amuse bouche which was a pour from a $120 small bottle of sake and would have made the markup for the pairing to a 4x markup which is more reasonable, but still on the higher side in the bottom third of value.

The food was really nice. I loved the explanations from the sous chefs Tiffany and Diane. Diane even came out when we had a questions about the jus served alongside the ribeye and gave an excellent description of the 2+ day process which we really appreciated.

The first dessert was nice (sweet, creamy and pretty). The 2nd was disappointing. Generally both lacked a strong texture. The ending dessert bites were elegant and delicious!

Not gonna lie, I spent an arm and a leg here, but it was worth it to treat my partner and I out on a weekend getaway! I would say expect to spend around $400-$500 for two (without any extras like wine, etc etc.). Everything was solid, but MAN the brioche bread stole the show (trust me, it’s the most amazing bread that I’ve tasted and felt in my mouth. The softness, butteriness, lightness, melt-in-your-mouth-ness is unreal.). My partner and I have been craving the bread ever since! They also gave us a complimentary aubergine/eggplant chocolate to bring home!