About Us
CHRISTOPHE GROSJEAN
EXECUTIVE CHEF
Christophe Grosjean is executive chef at L'Auberge Carmel, the intimate hotel and restaurant in the heart of Carmel-by the Sea. Grosjean brings a lifetime of personal and professional experience to the position, with culinary roots that lie in Franche-Comté, France, where his grandmother taught him to love the land, embrace great food and love your family.
With these lessons he went off to culinary school at age 16. Grosjean’s ambition led him to cook throughout France’s distinctive regions and work under some of France’s best restaurants including the 1-star Michelin-rated Abbaye de Sainte Croix, 2-star Michelin-rated Chabichou and 3-star Michelin-rated Le Jardin des Sens.
In 2000, Christophe moved to the Monterey Peninsula and joined the team at Bernardus Lodge under executive chef Cal Stamenov. By 2003, Christophe had secured the chef de cuisine position at the highly acclaimed restaurant Marinus at Bernardus Lodge. While continually growing his skills and palate he developed his own personal style. "I believe that if you respect the seasonality of local ingredients and build strong relationships with local farmers, foragers and fisherman, you can’t go wrong." he says. "As executive chef of L’Auberge Carmel, I will be able to fuse my French heritage with California’s inspiring array of ingredients."
Throughout his culinary career, Christophe’s focus has remained the same; to create dining experiences that are remarkable and unforgettable. His vibrant personality and creativity are well-matched at L’Auberge Carmel, which has consistently won highest praise from food writers nationally and locally. "The restaurant is so intimate and focused," says Grosjean, "I am able to personally attend to each guest.”
Interview with Christophe Grosjean, Executive Chef at Aubergine
What is your kitchen philosophy?
It’s really very basic. I like to utilize ingredients when they are in season. It allows me to stay spontaneous and be continually creative. I am constantly finding a new way to cook something. I enjoy preparing the food to look as natural and fresh as possible. The ingredients are the star of my dishes. Really, I only give myself 30% credit, the other 70% belongs to the food product itself.
My challenge every day is to get the best ingredients available. Then I have a couple hours to put them on the menu, because tomorrow the ingredients would still be good, but not as good as the day we received them in the kitchen. Farmers deliver to us daily. It’s a surprise what can appear.
So I tend to study a lot, to stay sharp on new techniques, new flavors that are going on in the culinary world. I read quite a few magazines and cookbooks, watch cooking shows , then read some more. It’s amazing. when you’re faced with the challenge at 3:30 p.m. in the afternoon to have to come up with the evening’s menu. The key for me is to not over-think anything or force it. I let the ingredient talk to me.
Tell us about the menus available at the restaurant? Do you change parts of the menu daily?
The idea at Aubergine is to give diners a lot of choice in being free to order what ever they want. In California, people like to eat that way. This way an individual could order three appetizers and one dessert, while their dining partner may order two meat items and a cheese, all because they bought a bottle of special bottle of Petrus. My goal is to let people please their first desire.
We change the menu as we get new produce and ingredients. I may have three new dishes on the menu tomorrow and it may stay like that for two days or two weeks. Why? Because it is the most seasonal and beautiful product coming to the kitchen door.
Do you have signature dishes?
Yes, I have many, but I don't fix myself on one dish. If I did that my creativity would feel stopped.
How do you find inspiration?
Taste is built from memories; when I put a new dish together, I recall the smell, taste, texture and temperature of a dish I’ve eaten in the past that may have the same ingredients. Those memories help me build the layers of a new dish.
As a young boy my grandmother was a big influence in my exposure to food. We lived next door to her. I would go there for lunch every day during the school year. She cooked on a wood stove, she never had a driver’s license so she grew everything in her garden, raised her own pigs and chickens. I can clearly remember helping her in the kitchen when I was six years old. One day we grated onions used to make her famous blood sausage. To this day I regress to a six year old whenever I make these sausages. The memory of smell and taste is timeless.
What is your favorite cooking tool?
I have a tasting spoon that is always in my back pocket. I cannot start my day without it. I’ve had it for eight years and I don’t think I could cook without now. The spoon is like an extension of my tongue. I feel it’s important to taste a full spoon of something when cooking.
Do you have a cooking tip to share?
Yes. It’s very simple but effective. Always cook your vegetables in a large pot of water, ideally six times the volume of the vegetable. Be sure to add salt, it helps keep the color and brings out the flavor. And then cook the vegetables. They should not be crunchy hard like what is served in so many restaurants. Go ahead and cook the vegetable just a little longer. You’ll be surprised how beautiful and tasty the vegetables will be. Then ice them to keep their color.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I like to garden, I grow all the herbs I use at the restaurant. I have 12 raised bed boxes in my backyard where I grow 20 different kinds of herbs. I grow each variety to a little more than sprout size. I let it grow so I can see the shape of the leaf, that’s how I get the most intense flavor. Right now I’m growing parsley, fennel, radishes, cilantro, watercress, chives, green onions, red mustard, tarragon, plus a few others. For example, I use only the small baby radish leaves not the radish. I start harvesting on one side of a box and a week later the other end of the box is ready to harvest. With this technique I can personally grow enough for use daily in the restaurant due to the small size of Aubergine. With 12 tables it’s manageable.
I also try to ride my mountain bike or road bike as much is possible. I love being out in the middle of the forest, it’s a good feeling. Very different than spending 12 hours in the kitchen.
And of course, my main free time is spent with my children and my beautiful, supportive wife. She and I met in France. We have a five year old son, and a two year old daughter. My wife is the manager of a pastry shop in Monterey. She paints in her free time and goes biking with me. I truly believe the success of a chef is due to his wife! It’s important to have a strong support system at home to keep one calm.