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Aubergine, is tucked into an old,
ramshackle section of Newport Beach, at the foot of the Balboa Peninsula.
I adore this location. It cracks me up in a way, even though it’s
far from one of this restaurant’s most impressive virtues--hell,
precisely for that reason. The place is surrounded by beat-up shops and
offices, there’s no external pomp-or-circumstance (for example, there’s
no valet parking; it’s unnecessary--you can always find a spot nearby),
and you could easily drive past it without noticing anything, much less
that inside is probably one of California’s very best restaurants.
Opened in 1995 by Tim and Liza Goodell, Aubergine initially appeared to
be the quintessential mom-and-pop operation--the space was a tiny cottage,
he cooked and she ran the front of the house, and the two of them pretty
much did whatever else needed doing--but this “little” family
operation was distinguished by gargantuan ambition and even larger culinary
talent. These days, you’ll rarely find the Goodells (wo)manning those
posts: Their soaring success has since spawned Troquet, another high-end
bistro in Costa Mesa’s South Coast Plaza, and more recently, they
opened Red Pearl Kitchen, a more informal Asian eatery in Huntington Beach.
But among the many, many impressive things about Aubergine is that on
any givennight, even if one or both Goodells are MIA, you can be assured
of eating a meal that transports you to a rarefied culinary region that
will likely leave you swooning. Even if you’re not a swooner. Let’s
put it this way: All the most discriminating, respected restaurant critics
I’ve read on Aubergine have weighed in with no-holds barred raves,
and, much closer to home, there was the Appel review. Howard and Francoise
Appel were two of my late folks’ very dearest friends, and moved
from California to Provence nearly 25 years ago. They’re in their
very early 70s, they’ve traveled Europe extensively and--let me repeat--they
live in the south of France, itself a pretty note place for food and wine.
After we took them to dinner at Aubergine, they declared it the single
best meal they had ever eaten.
If you seek to duplicate that kind of experience, you’ll need to
do two things: (1) Order the tasting menu--a nine-course sampling of the
nirvana Tim Goodell (or whatever kitchen king Goodell has temporarily
abdicated his throne to) has created using the freshest--and some cases,rarest--ingredients
and an M.O. rooted in fine French cooking, but deftly darting in and out
of other cuisines . And (2) bring a big wad of dough.
Yeah, perhaps unsurprisingly, Aubergine is expensive: though they do offer
a Sunday-only $39 meal, the normal five-course prix fixe menus is $85,
the tasting menu a wallet-walloping $105--it’s obviously the kind
of place to celebrate a very special occasion, or to splurge when trying
to treat singular friends to a singular meal. And, if you are going to
Aubergine, much less taking someone, it’s probably equally obvious
that one should be passionate about food, and finicky eaters need not
apply. (They do provide a vegetarian menu for $75 bucks.) But if you arrive
at Aubergine fully prepared for a dining adventure, they’re fully
prepared to deliver it. Since we’ve already established that the
cuisine is unfathomably good--consistently so--it may be useful to run
though the selections on the tasting menu the last time we were fortunate
enough to dine there:
SALAD OF PICKLED VEGETABLES
frissee and watercress, Banyuls, vinaigrette
MAINE DIVER SCALLOPS
“raw and cooked” asparagus, truffle vinaigrette
TRUE AMERICAN RED SNAPPER
roasted peppers, cherry tomatoes, basil parsley emulsion
AGNOLOTTI OF FROMAGE BLANC
beurre noisette, parmesan Reggiano
CARMELIZED RIS DE VEAU
young beets, French carrots, veal sauce
LOIN OF COLORADO LAMB
slow braised leg, fingerling potato, broccoli, lamb jus
COLSTON BASSETT STILTON
membrillo strudel, marcona almonds, black pepper gastrique
MARIONBERRY SORBET
lemon poppyseed shortcake, fresh blackberries
DESSERT SERVICE
MIGNARDISES
I know: Just listing these dishes doesn’t
really do them justice, but I’m not convinced describing them in
detail would, either. You really have to taste this food. But it’s
never too soon to start a Go-To-Aubergine fund--or dropping hints that
you’d like to celebrate the next special occasion there. Me? I’m
doing both. 508 29th Street, Newport Beach. (949) 723-4150.
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Eats
