Inside Lilo, San Diego’s Most Ambitious New Tasting Menu Restaurant

San Diego’s foray into the national and international fine dining scene reaches a new level with the opening of Lilo on April 17., The ambitious tasting menu counter from chef Eric Bost and John Resnick, tucked behind their bustling all-day Carlsbad restaurant Wildland, serves 12-plus beautifully adorned courses in an intimate dining room with 22 counter seats. The experience echoes that of other high-end restaurants that offer a communal dining arrangement, like Somni in Los Angeles, Jont in D.C., and Atomix in New York City. Given Bost’s background with Alain Ducasse and Guy Savoy, plus his tenure at Republique in Los Angeles, Lilo (pronounced lie-low) is well-positioned to attain that coveted two-Michelin-star ground that creates a true dining destination in Carlsbad. And it will join the chorus of aspirational restaurants like Valle and Addison to further cement San Diego as a player in North America’s fine dining scene.

Almost exactly six years ago, Eric Bost had just opened Auburn in Los Angeles, a sleek, beautifully arranged sanctuary of California cuisine with a modestly priced, seasonal tasting menu. The COVID-19 pandemic forced Auburn to close in April 2020 (where it was replaced by Meteora), and Bost moved south to San Diego County to partner with Resnick. Here, he took over the reins of Jeune et Jolie, where it earned a Michelin star for its polished French Californian tasting menu served at an attainable price point. Bost and Resnick opened Wildland (modeled a bit after Republique and Venice’s Gjusta but with a more laid-back vibe and soaring high-ceiling industrial space) in December 2024 with the intention of opening Lilo behind it a short while later.

“This is basically the fourth restaurant we have on the same street, and with the back entrance, we’re super excited to do something that we feel does not exist in this neighborhood,” says Bost, who thinks Carlsbad and greater North County could use a celebratory dinner spot like Lilo. “We like the idea of fine dining that feels like a real human connection with authenticity, vibrant energy, and something youthful,” says Resnick. “We think it’s going to be something unique and special to Carlsbad and Southern California.” The name refers to rekindled friendships (those that have been “lying low”) with cuisine themed around coastal flavors and ingredients.

Like a lot of upscale tasting menu restaurants, Lilo begins with a welcoming scene set on a lush wood-lined garden patio with a wood campfire and lounge seating that looks into the dining room. A tree commands the center, the neighboring homes and buildings fading away into the near cloudless sky — a true urban retreat.

Diners are then seated around the open kitchen, where cooks will bring out starters of littleneck clam with Buddha’s hand and tomatillo granita. Dry-aged Japanese kinmedai comes with a tangy, almost floral yuzu gelee. A Kaluga caviar tartellette gets the earthy notes of grilled spring peas with rich straciatella and egg yolk jam. Arranged in like modern art, alternating matchsticks of charred and clean white asparagus are suspended over a filet of dry-aged wild Brittany turbot and a sabayon of Pineau des Charentes. Later in the meal, 40-day-aged rib-eye comes with braised kombu and gurumelo mushrooms, while desserts come in five expressions, like hoja santa with fingerlime and sweet cream gelato or a stroopwaffle with rhubarb, vanilla, and toasted milk crémeux. The flavors are influenced by Japanese cuisine and presented like French fine dining, but ultimately rooted in California seasonality and transparency on the plate.

Wine director Savannah Riedler (previously of Saison in San Francisco) and beverage director Andrew Cordero (who manages the other three Bost-Resnick restaurants) serve California wine from lesser-known regions like Santa Cruz. Cocktails lean on vintage spirits like a reposado tequila and umeboshi caramel Old Fashioned.

Bells + Whistles, the firm that designed Animae, Jeune et Jolie, LA’s now-closed Broken Spanish, and the newly remodeled Providence, is also behind Lilo. The interior of the restaurant features oak and stone surfaces, a wave-like ceiling coupled with contrasting dark and swirled quartzite countertops. The wave pattern is echoed along the walls, giving the entire space the feel of a seaside cave. A vintage reel-to-reel tape machine and record player complete the sonic experience. Two four-tops reside closer to the cooking areas as an alternative to the low-slung counters, but basically everyone is in the party together: cooks, servers, sommeliers, diners, and chefs. It’s a sumptuous theater with tactile and understated luxury that feels apt for San Diego.

With a lot of upper-tier fine dining restaurants, issues arise with the amount of work required to execute the level of food and inequity of compensation. Bost says that with cooks essentially serving the food here and explaining everything, it’s essentially a “deformulation of higher-end dining.” A staff of eight people still run the front of house, but most of the team will be involved in the chain of service. “There’s a big back of house so the focus is on making sure we’re excited about the time and effort to make these experiences possible,” he continues. With the service model, tips are distributed among all hourly staff so that pay is equitable. “We have high standards and demand a lot. We built the model so that people are taken care of, but also the business can be sustainable,” says Bost.

Although Bost hopes that awards organizations like the Michelin Guide and North America 50 Best Restaurants recognize Lilo, he’s more focused on what he can control right now. “Accolades don’t factor into our day-to-day,” he says. “If we hold ourselves up to the standards we want to be operating in, pushing with a relentless need to refine, and our guests are having a good time, then we’ll feel like we’re doing something well.”

Lilo is located at 2571 Roosevelt Street, Carlsbad, CA, 92008. Meals cost $265 plus tax, drink pairings, and gratuity per person, with two seatings with times staggered throughout the evening. Reservations are available on OpenTable.

Elodie Bost