I recently went behind the scenes at L’Auberge del Mar with Jeff Bonilla, the Executive Pastry Chef at L’Auberge Del Mar (including banquets and both on-site restaurants: Kitchen 1540 and the Waterfall Terrace). He’s one of the most playful and creative pastry chefs in San Diego, as evidenced in his multi-dimensional desserts, like the peach and olive oil cremeux pictured above. It’s a refreshingly light dessert for a fall menu, and features an outstanding aloe sorbet, passion fruit sauce, pink guava glass, mango mousse, and a mini tropical macaron. Check out the slide-show on Serious Eats to see how some of the (many) elements in this dessert are made.

Another new dessert for fall that I loved was the “Chocolate Milk”, a frozen cube of (what else?) chocolate milk, surrounded by berries, chocolate cake crumble, white chocolate powder, crunchy pearls, and a chewy strand of chocolate consommé spaghetti. You can try both of these desserts at Kitchen 1540.