Lilo

For the very first time, on June 24th, the ceremony for the Michelin Guide California will be coming to San Diego!

To see the 2026 California Guide unveiled here is a reminder of just how much passion, creativity, and talent this city’s hospitality community has built together over the years. It feels incredibly special.

If you’re coming into town for the ceremony, we’d love to have you spend an evening with us at Jeune et Jolie or Lilo, as we are celebrating Michelin week by opening both restaurants on Tuesday the 23rd, the night before the event, and Sunday the 28th, to cap off the week.

San Diego is having a moment, and we couldn’t be more excited to be part of it!

Dashi Vinegar. This has become a workhorse building-block flavor for us at Lilo over these past few months.

Combining grilled kombu, aged brown rice vinegar, shiro dashi, and shaved katsuobushi, it’s intentional, intense, and full of umami.

Currently used to season a sauce of braised kelp, toasted walnuts, aged beef garum, and chives that accompanies ember-roasted Miyazaki Wagyu.

Fresh apricot and sweet apricot jam rest atop our brown butter mochi cake, bringing together the brightness of lemon thyme and the richness of toasted walnuts in sweet and savory mignardise.

The cake begins with cream and milk, gently infused overnight with lemon thyme, folded into a batter of whipped eggs, sugar, brown butter, and mochiko rice flour, before being baked until deeply caramelized. Once cooled, each piece is coated in a delicate shell of Valrhona Dulcey chocolate and cocoa butter, then finished with toasted walnuts. A simple bite that layers fragrance, richness, and the fleeting sweetness of the season.

At Lilo, hospitality starts before you even walk through the door. From the subtle lines of the building to the energy of service, everything is designed to feel warm, intentional, relaxed — and deeply Californian.

This dish celebrates abalone, highlighting its beautiful texture and natural umami.

They are received live, gently poached in roasted kombu oil, and cold-smoked over almond wood embers. It’s then thinly sliced and rests over a silky chawanmushi steeped with roasted mushrooms and charred kombu. The dish is finished with a warm glaze of roasted chicken and bone marrow broth, alongside confit porcini mushrooms, fresh menegi, and sansho leaf for brightness and aroma. As a final touch, an oil made from charred ramps.

For the final course, an entremet of black tea mousse, layered with strawberry and almond dacquoise.

It’s surrounded by ‘chewy’ peaches, black tea crémeux, and a dukkah of toasted dragée almonds, green cardamom, and fennel.

Alongside, you have frozen pearls of toasted milk ice cream and strawberry sorbet, and a peach-filled doughnut, fried à la minute and dusted with strawberry sugar. To finish, a chilled strawberry consommé.

Pain perdue, made with croissants from our Wildland bakery, layered with parmesan, soaked in custard, and roasted until deeply golden. Brushed with a glaze of black garlic, shiro dashi, and browned butter, it’s then topped with grilled Salt Spring mussels, charred Iberico lardo, Kaluga caviar, and onion flowers. A final warm bite to finish the canapé in the garden.

One of the drinks featured in our non-alcoholic pairing.

Inspired by the natural sweetness and soft earthiness of Badger Flame Beet, the drink builds around roasted, caramelized beet flavors with a subtle minerality and vivid vegetal depth.

We add Lapsang tea to bring smoky complexity, while dulse brings an oceanic salinity. Lastly, wormwood and tonic lend a refined bitterness, creating a sophisticated twist on a traditional aperitif.

A welcoming bite in the garden. A tartlette of locally caught spot prawns, lightly steamed and dressed with mandarin blossom oil, shiso, and grilled strawberry juice, then wrapped in pickled magnolia flowers.

Alongside, embered strawberries, slowly dried over the hearth until their flavor deepens and concentrates, and finished with a strawberry gelée, umeboshi, myoga, and pinot sorrel.

A vibrant dialogue between the ocean and the garden.

A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our first birthday with an unforgettable night filled with collaboration, energy, and community.

We’re beyond grateful to our dear friends Tara Monsod, Travis Swikard, and Jason McLeod for sharing their time and incredible talent—and to all the amazing guests who showed up to celebrate with us.

Our hearts are full!