L'Aubergine just received their second star this year and they totally deserve the stars.

To begin with, I reserved the courtyard dining, which turned out to be a wonderful choice. The dining area is at the hotel courtyard and it's extremely beautiful and cozy when the weather is nice. When I was there, the sun was just about to set, so the light was beautiful and it really didn't affect how the food was presented later on. I would highly suggest to reserve the courtyard dining if possible.

For the service, it was also impeccable. Every server was very attentive and friendly. They really attended every detail. My sommelier was also very knowledgeable and I am very satisfied about my wine pairing. A small surprise was that not only the server brought you the food, sometimes it could be the executive chef, Justin, himself and other sous-chefs. The dining experience was indeed two stars.

Finally, let's talk about food. I skipped the desserts because of word counts.

Gift from the coast The set of one-bites was composed of five dishes and they were paired with Japan junmai daiginjio sake. They were mostly seafood except the wagyu tartare, which happened to be my favorite. However, each dish was seasoned very well. As someone who is very picky with Japanese and Japanese inspired food, I would say they really present the ingredients well. For instance, the bluefin tuna and caviar combination was balanced very well. The caviar was not too salty to cover the umami of the tuna.

Kaluga queen caviar, tomato, gazpacho This one was an interesting dish. It was frozen gazpacho paired with champagne. Chef Justin presented the dish by himself by placing the caviar and I was suggested to eat the dish by scooping my spoon all the way down to the bottom of the plate. The reason why I say the dish was interesting is because California was experiencing a hot wave at the moment, and this dish was just the right solution. The frozen gazpacho, the tomatoes, and cucumbers, were just right to relieve you from the extreme heat. Let alone the nice cool champagne. Similar to our previous dish, the caviar was just right to the balance.

Amadai, corn, iberico, squash This dish was paired with German Riesling. The fish was handled very traditionally with fried scales, or 鱗焼き(uroko yaki). The scales were very crispy and the meat was very tender. The slightly acidic base paired very well with both the fish and the wine. One thing that I really want to point out is that, all dishes were served with different and astonishing plates. And if the dish is warm, the plate is also warm, which really shows the details.

Shiro dashi, carrots, Hokkaido scallop This dish was paired with Burgundy Chardonnay. I really like this dish because of the creativity it presents. on the scallop was the usual ikura, but underneath in the sauce was carrots made to the same shape of ikura, just visually astounding. In terms of the taste, it was less impressive but still above average. Another thing to note is that I really like this Chardonnay. The dish was also served with a piece of brioche. That's one of the best brioches I've ever had and it went really well with the carrot sauce.

Duck, pink peppercorn, plum The dish was served with a local Monterey Pinot Noir by Pisoni. The idea of using the acidity coming from plum instead of traditional orange based sauce is quite interesting and it works. The duck itself was cooked at the textbook level but nothing beyond. The major variety came from the side dishes but also nothing too memorable.

Dry-aged ribeye, turnip, eggplant There was an option to this dish where you could have A5 wagyu side by side with the ribeye but I didn't have that. This dish was paired with Napa Valley's Cabernet Sauvignon. How can someone come to L'Aubergine without having aubergine? The beef was cooked and seasoned very well, but what I liked most was the sourdough that came along. The butter was just amazing and I could definitely have another piece of bread only that I was almost full.