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About Aubergine
Executive Chef-Director Justin Cogley, a Relais & Châteaux Grand Chef, and pastry chef Yulanda Santos prepare skillful, ingredient-driven cuisine that celebrates the bounty of the region.
“The Past Can Be Changed By The Future” – Yoshiki Hayashi
The award-winning restaurant Aubergine is located at L’Auberge Carmel, a Relais & Châteaux in the heart of Carmel-by-the-Sea. Chef Cogley’s cuisine showcases the finest ingredients with a razor-sharp balance of deference and innovation. The menu served five nights per week 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 compliments to Cogley’s savory courses.
The daily changing eight course Tasting Menu is an of-the-moment celebration of seasonality and creativity. An impressive 3,500-bottle wine cellar offers renowned and undiscovered selections from famed wine regions around the world, with a particular focus on wines from Monterey County and France. For a supplement, course-by-course wine pairings are available to enhance your experience.
Under the direction of Chef Cogley and his team, Aubergine has enjoyed substantial acclaim. In 2016 & 2015 they were nominated for James Beard Foundation awards including Best Chef, West and Outstanding Service. 2016 & 2015 saw Aubergine earn Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence and Forbes Travel Guide’s highest Five-Star rating recognizing excellence in restaurants. Also in 2014 L’Auberge Carmel was named Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards as a Top 100 Hotels Overall and one of the Top Resorts in the Continental United State. In 2013, Cogley was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux, joining an esteemed list of internationally celebrated chefs and Food & Wine magazine named Justin Cogley “Best New Chef”.
In 2024, Aubergine earned a second Michelin star after being awarded the first coveted star in 2019.
Sample Tasting Menu
oyster, yuzu emulsion, cucumber gelee
artichoke tart, white anchovy, honeycomb, mint
uni, sweet soy, potato
tomato, lemon thyme, caviar
ayu, potato squash, meyer lemon, trout roe
shiro dashi, fava beans and shoots, lobster
morels, chicken jus, ramps
ribeye, kohlrabi, sunflower miso
strawberry cremeaux, pistachios, olive oil cake
chocolate brownie, marshmallow fluff, cocoa nibs
The Menu • $285 per person
Executive Chef-Director – Justin Cogley
Pastry Chef – Yulanda Santos
20% charge will be added to each guest check
Please note that our menu changes daily and this is only a sample of a recent menu for consideration.
The intimate, 9 table Aubergine restaurant features an underground wine cellar constructed beneath the inn’s courtyard to house the restaurant’s 3,500-bottle collection. The wine list features numerous great wines from around the world with a particular focus on wines from Monterey County and France.
Wine Pairings
$250 for the Wine Pairing
$495 for the Reserve Wine Pairing
$250 for the Champagne Pairing
$125 for the Zero Proof Pairing
Plus 20% service fee
Wine List
Please note that our wine list and availability of specific selections changes frequently; this is only a sample list for consideration. If you have a bottle, producer, or vintage that you wish to order, contact us ahead of your visit to speak with one of our sommeliers who can assist with your request.
Corkage
$100 per 750ml bottle with a 2 bottle maximum
(or 1 magnum with a 1 bottle maximum)
Press
If you are on assignment and would like to stay at L’Auberge Carmel or dine at Aubergine, we would be pleased to assist with your press trip. For further information, photography or to answer questions, please contact:
marketing@mirabelgroup.com
Download our Press Kit
Team at the Aubergine
Justin Cogley
Executive Chef – Director
Justin Cogley joined Aubergine restaurant in January 2011. As Executive Chef-Director, he oversees Aubergine and all of L’Auberge Carmel’s culinary programs.
Cogley comes to Carmel by way of Chicago, Illinois, where he was instrumental in opening the Elysian Hotel’s new kitchen as Executive Sous Chef. He previously worked at Charlie Trotter’s critically acclaimed restaurant for four years, claiming the position of Chef de Cuisine for the last two. As such, he was responsible for menu creation, special events, and extensive instruction and management of the culinary staff.
With delicate interplay between creativity, tradition, and respect for his ingredients, Cogley’s food is deeply unique. His style is a sophisticated balance between innovation and unwavering deference for the finest ingredients he procures. “If I had to describe my food,” Cogley says, “I would say each plate has a purpose.” Cogley’s goal is to inspire guests to enjoy a broad combination of flavors and textures. He may present a diner with a vegetable prepared three ways on his plate but Cogley says, “Each of the flavors will be unique and pure.”
Prior to his career as a chef, Cogley was a professional international figure skater performing with “Disney on Ice.” Traveling and touring with the show for four years in Asia, Australia and Europe, Cogley was exposed to new flavors and cuisines, as well as a myriad of food markets and international techniques. These culinary experiences confirmed his passion for food, travel, and good wine, and when he returned to the United States, he enrolled at the Western Culinary Institute and began working in select restaurants in Portland, Oregon. After graduating with top honors in 2005, he launched his culinary career on the team at Charlie Trotter’s.
Under the direction of Chef Cogley and his team, Aubergine has enjoyed substantial acclaim. In 2015 & 2016, they were nominated for two James Beard Foundation awards including Best Chef, West and Outstanding Service. In 2014 & 2015 saw Aubergine earn Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence and Forbes Travel Guide’s highest Five-Star rating recognizing excellence in restaurants. Also in 2014 L’Auberge Carmel was named Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards as a Top 100 Hotels Overall and one of the Top Resorts in the Continental United States. In 2013, Cogley was awarded the prestigious title of Grand Chef Relais & Châteaux, joining an esteemed list of internationally celebrated chefs and Food & Wine magazine named Justin Cogley “Best New Chef”.
Yulanda Santos
Pastry Chef
After several years in the banking industry, Yulanda decided to follow her enthusiasm for baking.
Her pastry knowledge expanded as she worked in many great kitchens and her passion for baking only grew stronger. Her career has brought her to the kitchens of One Market in San Francisco, Aqua and Aureole in Las Vegas, George’s at the Cove in La Jolla, California and Charlie Palmer’s Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg, California.
Originally from San Diego, the opportunity to be the Pastry Chef at Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur brought her from wine country back to the California coastline.
Yulanda is currently the Pastry Chef at Aubergine at L’Auberge Carmel. Her desserts are inspired by her surroundings and fresh produce from local farmers.
Yulanda also enjoys traveling the world to gain new experiences and bring new flavor profiles to her menu. She plans on eating her way through the world…life couldn’t be sweeter.
Tiffany DeGeorge
Executive Sous-Chef
Tiffany joins the team at Aubergine, bringing with her a wealth of experience. Her journey has taken her through Michelin-starred kitchens such as The Restaurant at Meadowood, Madera, and Manresa. Most recently, she held the position of Sous Chef at Post Ranch Inn’s Sierra Mar Restaurant. She learned the importance of using garden ingredients, as well as honing her skills with meat butchery and cooking. Tiffany finds inspiration from the bountiful produce of California and the people around her. Here at Aubergine, she helms the role of Executive Sous Chef, continuing to grow herself and her peers through culinary knowledge and experiences.
Alec Moreno
Chef de Cuisine
Alec Moreno was born and raised in Salinas, California. At age 17, he skateboarded to his first job interview and was hired on the spot as the dishwasher for a popular British pub. He went on to work and learn on the line in kitchens at several iconic Monterey Peninsula restaurants until he joined the team at Aubergine in 2015 as Garde Manger.
Chef Justin Cogley and his intimate and collaborative kitchen environment provided Alec with guidance and support to bring him to his current role as Chef de Cuisine where he continues to refine his cooking skills under Chef Cogley. When Alec is outside of the kitchen, he practices acrylic painting and wild foraging—both hobbies inspire him when creating and executing dishes at Aubergine.
John Haffey
Lead Sommelier
John began his career in wine in 2017 at local wineries in Carmel Valley. Having recently fallen in love with wine, he felt this was the best way to begin getting immersed in wine and learning everything about it. After a brief stint at Folktale, where he learned the basics of winemaking and grape growing, he began to look for other jobs where he could become even more immersed in the world of wine, with a wider scope.
Enter Aubergine, where John began in 2018. He worked through most front-of-house roles, including bartender, sommelier, captain, and then, in 2020, Lead Sommelier. John, during his time at Aubergine, has worked closely with Executive Chef, Justin Cogley, to gain an intimate understanding of the types of wines that complement the food, and structures the wine program to ensure that each bottle in the cellar has a purpose.
Dominique Bright
Maître d’
One of my earliest culinary experiences included cooking and serving with my sister for the entire family on weekends. I did not know as a child that my parents were teaching me the true meaning of hospitality; a chance to give one’s heart and bond over a meal with loved ones. Ultimately, these weekend meals became the foundation for my love for food and it is where my love for hospitality blossomed. Born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula, I found myself working at numerous hotels and restaurants along the Central Coast. It was not until 2014, I began to work at Aubergine Restaurant in Carmel under the guidance of Chef Justin Cogley. It is where I learned the importance of having “a heart of a servant” and developed an eye for details. Every story told on the plate from Chef Cogley paired with a melody that emanates from every bottle of wine makes for a unique experience at each table. Having worked all front of the house positions and at last Maitre D’ has given me the ability to orchestrate a flow to service all the while in creating extraordinary memories for our guests.
‘”We divert, distract, delight and inspire the people who watch us. We invite them in to enter, so they can illuminate this place.”
Join us for a Valentine’s Day Dinner
Valentine’s Day Weekend of Februray 14, 2020
Feb. 14 & 15, 2020
$45 per person
$25 wine pairing per person
(plus service & tax)
Join us for a Valentine’s Day Dinner
Valentine’s Day Weekend of Februray 14, 2020
Feb. 14 & 15, 2020
$45 per person
$25 wine pairing per person
(plus service & tax)
Catering Services
Our team is able to recreate the atmosphere and cuisine of Aubergine at your own venue, near or far. Whether an intimate dinner, a strolling reception, or a large scale event, allow our culinary and service teams to bring our ingredient-driven exploration of the central coast, expansive wine knowledge, and impeccable service to you.
Please contact us via e-mail, or fill out this form to start a conversation about how we can contribute to the success of your gathering.
Contact us
Aubergine Carmel
Monte Verde at Seventh
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 93921
831 624 8578
For more information please visit:
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