Easygoing luxury and refinement strike a harmonious note within L’Auberge Carmel, where every element seems designed to delight. Chef Justin Cogley balances classic technique with a sleek, modern aesthetic, and his cooking captures a sense of place that feels wholly his own. Products of spectacular quality are prepared skillfully and painstakingly presented with an artistic eye, starting with a tray of amuses like the miniature Kampachi taco or a pickled oyster with pomelo foam. The hits keep coming, like the rice roulade with Dungeness crab finished in a white dashi and butter sauce or the triple-seared dry-aged ribeye brushed in wagyu XO. Fabulously accommodating sommeliers are ever present to help navigate a wine list of real distinction.