Best Anniversary Restaurants in Monterey (2026)
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The 2026 anniversary pick on the Monterey Peninsula is Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel. Editorial runners-up: Chez Noir, Marinus at Bernardus Lodge, Cella, Passionfish.
Thirty-one Monterey Peninsula rooms sit in our directory. Six earn an anniversary — the night you book weeks ahead and drive to Carmel for, not the Tuesday table on Cannery Row.
Six Monterey Peninsula Tables for an Anniversary
There are nine tables at Aubergine, inside the Relais & Châteaux L'Auberge Carmel. Chef Justin Cogley builds an eight-course tasting from what arrives that morning — Monterey Bay squid one night, a Big Sur foraged mushroom the next. It holds two Michelin stars across the 2024 and 2025 guides and serves five nights a week. The most serious dining room on the Peninsula for a milestone.
Jonny and Monique Black — alumni of Atelier Crenn, Quince and Pineapple & Pearls — opened Chez Noir in Carmel and took a Michelin star in 2023, its first full year. The format is four courses at $165 before service, built on wild local seafood, Santa Cruz Mountain mushrooms, and regional oysters and abalone. Open Thursday through Monday; a husband-and-wife room that rewards a quiet night.
Marinus is the dining room at the Four Diamond Bernardus Lodge, on 28 acres of vineyards and gardens in Carmel Valley named for winemaker Bernardus Pon. Sky-high windows frame the estate vines; an underground cellar is among the finest in the region. The cooking pairs European wine-country formality with California ingredients. Book a window table and make the drive inland part of the evening.
Cella occupies the Cooper Molera Adobe at 525 Polk Street, a compound standing since the 1820s and now a California State Historic Park. Chefs Ben Spungin and Cal Stamenov — the latter a Central Coast figure from his long Bernardus tenure — run an ever-changing family-style menu at $105 a head across the heated pergola and historic rooms. The 19th century as a backdrop, not a gimmick.
Passionfish in Pacific Grove was Monterey County's first Green-Certified restaurant and a founding Seafood Watch partner, with a James Beard-honoured wine list priced at retail. The menu turns over weekly on what the local marine environment gives — Dungeness crab from November through June, Pacific halibut in season. The conscience of the Peninsula's dining scene, and a quietly romantic anniversary room.
Chart House sits above the waterfront at 444 Cannery Row, where the setting does the heavy lifting — on a clear evening the sun drops over Point Pinos and sea otters drift past the glass. Prime rib carved tableside is the signature, from a 12-ounce cut to a 32-ounce, alongside Monterey Bay seafood. The classic anniversary view dinner on John Steinbeck's stretch of coast.
How to Book
Aubergine and Chez Noir are the bottleneck — Aubergine books on Tock and Chez Noir runs Thursday to Monday, both two to three weeks out for a weekend, longer in summer. Marinus and Cella want about two weeks. Note the anniversary in the reservation; these rooms will set a corner two-top or send a small plate.
7:30pm for the Carmel rooms once the light has dropped; an earlier 5:30 seating at Aubergine or Marinus buys a calmer dining room and the kitchen's full attention. Several of these tables are in Carmel-by-the-Sea or Carmel Valley, twenty-five minutes from downtown Monterey — leave the drive time in.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 2026 editorial pick is Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel, a nine-table dining room holding two Michelin stars under chef Justin Cogley. For a husband-and-wife Michelin room, Chez Noir runs a $165 prix fixe; for wine-country formality, Marinus at Bernardus Lodge sits on a Carmel Valley estate.
Aubergine's nine-table salon inside L'Auberge Carmel is the most intimate, and Chez Noir's husband-and-wife room runs a close second. For a view-led evening, Chart House above Cannery Row times its tables to the sunset over Point Pinos, with sea otters drifting past the glass.
Plan on roughly $120 to $200 for two at Passionfish or Chart House, and $300 to $400 a couple at Cella or the Michelin rooms. Chez Noir is $165 a head before service; Aubergine's tasting runs $250 to $495 per person depending on the menu and pairings.
Book Aubergine and Chez Noir two to three weeks out, longer for a summer weekend, since both run small fixed-menu rooms. Marinus and Cella want about two weeks. Chart House and Passionfish are easier, but a weekend sunset table still rewards booking several days ahead.
Several are. Aubergine and Chez Noir are in Carmel-by-the-Sea and Marinus is in Carmel Valley, all within thirty minutes of downtown Monterey on the same peninsula. Cella sits in Monterey proper, Passionfish in Pacific Grove, and Chart House on Cannery Row, so you can stay in town or drive to Carmel.