Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel
The daily changing eight course Tasting Menu is an of-the-moment celebration of seasonality and creativity. For a supplement, course-by-course wine pairings are available. The menu served nightly highlights the best ingredients of the season, enhanced by skillful technique and an eye toward varied textures and flavors. Desserts, masterfully prepared by Chef Santos, are irresistible complements to Cogley’s savory courses.
Reservation Cancellation Policy: 24 Hours Prior to Reservation Time.
Late Cancellation Fee: $125 per person Cancelling.
Menu: Eight Course Tasting Menu
Dining Room Attire: Smart Casual. Jackets for gentlemen are encouraged. Ties are optional. No t-shirts, shorts, or te
Private Dining
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The courses received at the restaurant were very good—there is definitely a talented kitchen and service team working at the restaurant. I am certain that an individual dining at Aubergine will enjoy the food that they taste.
However, the amount of food served is on the "light" side for a meal that will ultimately cost you ~$500 per person, assuming you do the wine pairing. To clarify, the expectation for a meal like this isn't necessarily to walk away "full"—you dine here for an experience.
This meal featured 5 modestly-sized courses, 3 small desserts. The meal, while delicious, ultimately felt imbalanced. It was disappointing that 2 of the 5 courses were served with bread (although, the bread was delicious). If you're dining with 2 people, you ultimately end-up with 2 rolls and a half of a small loaf of sourdough bread.
After eating those 5 courses, we couldn't help but miss a vegetable-centric dish or some other experience before eating two dessert courses. It felt like the meal dropped off a cliff, and ultimately made the experience less satisfying.
I think that this is a restaurant worth enjoying if you have a lenient budget—this is definitely a talented kitchen—but I would opt for other experiences if you're looking beyond the Michelin star in Carmel.
Highly recommend! Attentive service, beautiful presentations for every dish and taste good!
Challenge: Let people enjoy a Michelin-star dinner during COVID. Outside. In December.
No small feat! But Aubergine answered the call. Had a great time celebrating an anniversary. The food was delicious and very filling. Compared to other Michelin-starred tasting menus I've enjoyed, I think this was a tad overpriced, but I did not walk away feeling like I did not get a good value. And understandably, we were dining during a pandemic so paying a little more is probably warranted... :D
Fantastic from start to finish! One of the best meals I have ever had.
Amazing food and its presentation. Extremely well-thought through wine pairing. But be prepared to pay high dollars, which is worth it for the experience.
Had a wonderful experience at Auberge Carmel. Food was inventive and flavorful. Service was impeccable. We had a magical night. We did come here 7 years ago, and felt then, the menu focused on more local product, and may have been a bit more creative in presentation. We still enjoyed our experience and understand that each chef will have their own aesthetics.
Best meal in 2020
Food was excellent. In retrospect, would have appreciated a little more time between courses. That being said, an evening curfew was going into effect that night, so I understand if they were trying to be cognizant of that. Still, eight courses in 90 minutes was a bit of a sprint.
A few stand outs - the opening seafood dish, that tuna was amazing! The duck course was fantastic. And the pumpkin based dessert course very memorable.
Wine pairings were alright, perhaps the least "bang for your buck" of the bunch, but tasty. Port for dessert not exactly inspired, but the earlier pairings were clearly well considered.
Would recommend.
My husband and I dined here to celebrate our third anniversary. What a wonderful restaurant! The food was absolutely amazing and we loved that the tasting menu was kept as a surprise. You didn’t know what you were about to eat until it was placed on your table! So fun. We would highly recommend dining at this restaurant.
What a wonderful place to experience during our honeymoon. An experience of a lifetime.
Wow! What an absolutely amazing experience. Thank you so much for making our anniversary so special. The food, service, and atmosphere (even during COVID) were impeccable. Will most definitely be back!
Such a delicious and wonderful evening !
Terrific food and service in a pandemic-protected setting that still manages to be sophisticated and comfortable.
We are blessed to have a Michelin starred restaurant so close. Everything was truly extraordinary. Obviously, not a once a week spot, but a great experience for a special occasion.
We very much enjoyed our experience eating at Aubergine. They were very accommodating of my pregnancy-related food restrictions, yet I didn't feel like I got a worse menu than my husband because of it. Overall, it did feel somewhat overpriced for what it was compared to similar experiences we've had elsewhere, but during covid we were desperate for something like this and the outdoor courtyard seating (with plenty of space heaters, beautiful flowers/candles, and a tent in case it rained) and social distancing fit the bill.
Great service, amazing food and wine pairing. Love the oysters and crispy duck with pearl onion in particular, but the sauces on everything else also stood out to me. Would definitely recommend coming in for a special meal!
The ambiance and service was very good. Servers were polite and attentive and they did a great job at covering the patio and keeping it warm. The food and presentation for a Michelin Star restaurant was just okay. The cost was reasonable, but I wouldn’t visit again.
Exceptional food and service. A very lovely and once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Lovely from beginning to end. Loved every morsel.
Incredible food as you would expect for a Michelin star restaurant. Everything is of the highest quality.
Everything was perfect: the patio setting, the beautiful presentations - both food and the ceramics - the creativity.
We were celebrating a birthday, and appreciated the additional tiny mousse cake that arrived.
Service was perfect and the wine pairings were interesting and delicious.
Wonderful experience for a special occasion- it’s like seeing the art and beauty of the grand canyon for example but with your palate, regular views or meals simply won’t be as good/expansive after tasting this food which is inspiring to want to recreate it. Service was great but was expecting the head chef to be more personable. Jonathan was awesome, as was Danny they were genuine pure class. Would have been cool to see the kitchen and talk more with the head chef but all in all a wonderful expierence and we look forward to similar dining experiences in the future. Guests can tend to get a bit loud if tables around you are drinking.
A most excellent experience all the way around. Easy to see why they rate the Michelin Star. It has been awhile, however, since I paid almost $500 a chair. I will save up and return.
Hands down our best meal ever and overall dining experience! Perfect way to celebrate!
Very good! Expensive, but worth it! We loved ever single dish.
After making an on line reservation with identification of food allergy, upon arrival and follow up explanation the restaurant rudely decided not to serve us and abruptly asked us to leave. customer service lacks follow through and clearly didn't bother to read the notification in written reservation. Don't support such a place
Impeccable service, jaw-dropping plating and stunning courtyard really added up to be a very special experience. Highly recommend!
We sent our parents here for their 45th Wedding Anniversary and they had an amazing time.
IF YOU ARE LOOKING TO MAKE A MEMORY WITH SOMEONE SPECIAL THIS IS THE PLACE TO DO IT!
WHAT A MEAL, WHAT A MEMORY!
A special dining experience. The kitchen and service have not let the Covid-19 challenges diminish the quality of food or customer service.
The evening was lovely, the food was sublime, the environment was magical, the service was very friendly. Go.
The service was truly exceptional. 2 courses of the menu were exceptional as well. The rest of the courses were very good. From a flavors standpoint, I expected more from this chef.
This is one of the most outstanding meals I’ve had in months but I dine out at a lot of great places so that’s quite a compliment
The staff was incredibly knowledgeable about everything as well. Service was top notch.
One of the best meals we’ve ever had. The staff was so attentive and friendly, the food And wine was incredible and the outdoor garden courtyard during COVID times was very romantic and intimate.
A beautiful 8 course degustation, flawlessly timed with each course more exciting than the next. The sommelier pairing was beautiful and not overwhelming. Bravo Chef and team!
An amazing culinary experience. The service was attentive and the courtyard ambiance had a nice charm to it. Every dish was memorable and delicious. I'll definitely recommend this to friends and come back to it myself.
5 star in every way.
The food was amazing and the service was top notch.
Incredible meal at Aubergine. Really fantastic. The experience and food quality I firmly believe should be at least two Michelin stars. Michelin needs to come back here and increase the rating!!
This was our second time and AuBergine is just a fantastic experience of culinary delights. We were celebrating our wedding, we were suppose to have a destination wedding in Aruba and covid made us alter plans. We opted for the sommelier pairing with the courses and we could not have been happier with the service of Austin, Dominic and John. Thank you
FAQs
Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel offers takeout which you can order by calling the restaurant at (831) 624-8578.
Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel is rated 4.9 stars by 966 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.