There’s no restaurant location in all of Sedona – maybe even Arizona – that compares with L’Auberge Restaurant on Oak Creek. Though the indoor dining room is elegant, sitting creek-side is an experience to write home about. If you’re lucky, you’ll score a white-linen-covered table under green sycamore trees with the rushing waters of Oak Creek mere inches from your toes. Mallards float by in dappled sunlight, and the air smells like damp leaves. As the sun sets, spotlights illuminate the trees. In a word: sublime.
What’s equally sublime is Executive Chef Rochelle Daniel’s cooking. Dinner at L’Auberge means your choice of a three- or four-course prix-fixe menu. Our four courses began with two appetizers: a Dungeness crab crepe served with roasted tomato, fennel and butter-braised shiitake mushrooms and the Hudson Valley foie torchon. Next came our salads. The Brie en croute is a crowd pleaser featuring toasted oats, basil, wild berries and a black-walnut purée. If you’re looking for something slightly healthier, the organic mixed greens are topped with paper-thin slices of prosciutto de parma and locally made ricotta. Dinner at L’Auberge is a leisurely affair, so we had plenty of time to enjoy our starters before the main courses arrived. The Maine Dayboat scallops were nothing short of a revelation. Three large scallops were served with Brie-shiitake ravioli and sautéed Brussels sprouts. The scallops were topped with a poached pear, and everything was served on a bed of toothsome toasted bulgur. The Creekstone all-natural filet mignon melts in your mouth. It’s accompanied by a buttery pommes purée, red-wine-glazed mushrooms and bearnaise sauce.
Dessert arrived in the form of pastry chef Marla Florez’s chamomile pavlova, a stiffened whipped meringue filled with lemon cream and topped with pistachio-honey foam. If you love tea, you’ll be dreaming about this one for weeks to come. Space restrictions don’t even allow us to write about L’Auberge’s award-winning wine list. We could wax poetic about this dining experience to infinity and beyond. – Erika Ayn Finch
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