Take One of 24 Seats for the IWA Sake Dinner at Lilo
There are tasting menus you book for the chef, and tasting menus you book for the person pouring. Lilo is handing you both on the same night.
The one MICHELIN star restaurant on the Carlsbad coast is giving its 24-seat chef’s counter over to Chef Eric Bost and Richard Geoffroy, founder and maker of IWA Sake. Eight courses, pairings chosen by Geoffroy himself, and the entire restaurant seated at one counter.
The Man Who Ran Dom Pérignon for 28 Years
Geoffroy was the fifth chef de cave at Dom Pérignon and steered the Champagne for 28 years before starting over somewhere else entirely. In 2017 he moved to Toyama, Japan, to make sake.
IWA came out of that move. It is built on Assemblage, a blending method that pulls together different rice varieties, yeast strains, and separate brews into a single bottle. This year the team released IWA Reserves, their first run at aged sake.
From Spiny Lobster to Alba White Truffle
Bost is cooking the coast he knows. San Diego spiny lobster shows up with gooseberry, nasturtium, and marigold. Kombu-jime black cod comes under Alba white truffle with a Pineau des Charentes sabayon.
Abalone gets koshihikari rice, matsutake, kombu, leek, and sansho leaf. Then comes orgeat ice cream with N25 kaluga caviar and celery root bushi, which lands somewhere between dessert and the savory courses.
Liberty Farms duck with quince, sunchoke, koji, and black garlic closes out the savory run. One thing to know going in: this menu runs exactly as written, with no swaps for allergies or dietary requests.
Pours That Run From Assemblage 1 to Dom Pérignon
Geoffroy selected the pairings alongside Lilo wine director Savannah Riedler, who took the 2026 MICHELIN Guide California Sommelier Award.
The lineup pulls from IWA Assemblages 2 through 6, bottles from the new Reserves, vintage Dom Pérignon, and the rare Assemblage 1. For a sake list, that is about as deep as it gets in San Diego County.
24 Seats and No Second Night
Lilo seats everyone at a counter wrapped around the open kitchen, so every spot puts you in front of the pass with Bost and Geoffroy both working the room.
There are 24 of those seats, and this runs once. Tickets are $834 per person, prepaid, and all sales are final, though a reservation can be transferred to someone else.
See you there!
Carlsbad does not usually get nights like this. If you have been meaning to try Lilo, go when the man behind the sake is standing in the room.
📆 Thursday, November 12 | 8:15 PM
📍 2571 Roosevelt Street, Carlsbad, CA 92008
🎟️ Make reservations here
See you there, San Diego!
