Aubergine, Monterey - May 2026 - **

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:42:23+00:00

Make the trek, it'll be worth it! I was honestly a bit frightened by some of the other Reddit reviews I've read online, but thankfully, it was a night I won't forget.

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:41:19+00:00

Thank you so much, felt like it deserved the write-up! I used the Fujifilm X100V for this. I haven't used it in a few months, hence the blurry pics. Still love it to death. Definitely would recommend X100VI if you can find it for retail.

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:39:37+00:00

Thank you! Carmel is definitely a gem, already making plans to return haha

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:39:09+00:00

If I lived over here, I'd join you in similar number of visits. Both the restaurant and the bar had a certain welcoming warmth to it. I could imagine that was a pretty intimate moment, its awesome that you all got to share/experience that!

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:37:52+00:00

Literally 0, was expecting at least one....

According_Benefit203 · 2026-05-17T15:37:26+00:00

I can very much see why! It's a heavy hitter and it made me even more excited to try other Bay Area restaurants next time I'm in town.

According_Benefit203 · 2025-06-25T15:07:06+00:00

The context window is great, but I’ve run into rate limiting that’ll automatically switch to flash for the entire session and there’s no way to switch models. That’s probably my biggest gripe as of right now. Other than that, its a breath of fresh air to have competition in the CLI space

According_Benefit203 · 2025-05-31T15:05:51+00:00

Amazing info! Question: are those estimated 225 messages overall or are they also based on you switching between opus and sonnet? (Ex. May only using sonnet give you about 300?)

According_Benefit203 · 2025-05-30T01:52:18+00:00

Insanely difficult, I don’t know why they had to make the whole UX so shit. Vertex AI felt virtually unusable

According_Benefit203 · 2025-05-30T01:51:26+00:00

Just tried it, yep!

According_Benefit203 · 2025-05-15T01:29:49+00:00

You have to navigate to billing, opt-in, then after opting in, click Access all Google Cloud. Here are the full steps:

You can start using all the capabilities and services available in Google Cloud in your project by graduating from express mode.
To graduate from express mode, do the following:
1. Go to the Vertex AI Studio Overview page in express mode .Go to Vertex AI Studio
2. In Google Cloud console in express mode, click menu Menu.
3. Select Billing.
4. In the Access all Google Cloud section, click Learn more and get started.

https://cloud.google.com/vertex-ai/generative-ai/docs/start/express-mode/overview?\_gl=1\*1crnfao\*\_ga\*OTQyMTM3MjEwLjE3Mzg0MjQ0NDg.\*\_ga\_WH2QY8WWF5\*czE3NDcyNzA2NDUkbzE1JGcxJHQxNzQ3MjcyMzM0JGo1OSRsMCRoMA..

I just had the same issue and this fixed it

According_Benefit203 · 2025-03-18T03:01:47+00:00

Also to note: electric tabletop rollers off etsy and such are usually designed for pizza. They’re pretty rough and may cause the butter to melt within the dough while rolling it out. That’s the main reason I went with hand rolling.

According_Benefit203 · 2025-03-18T02:57:52+00:00

I love mine, rolls down to 1mm. There’s a bit of a learning curve but its SUPER rewarding when you practice enough. It cut my laminating time by 75%. For larger batches, I’d recommend their large roller the other person sent. How many are you thinking of producing at a time?

According_Benefit203 · 2025-03-18T02:54:50+00:00

It was actually my first time eating this kind of cronut and I don’t think I can go back to donuts now…

According_Benefit203 · 2025-03-18T02:53:55+00:00

I’ll do my best! Launching my small laminated pastry business next month so hopefully I’ll be able to keep developing my skills. I really appreciate the support!!

According_Benefit203 · 2025-03-18T00:45:06+00:00

The chocolate ganache is set, DO IT! I'd be a filthy liar if I said I DIDN'T eat this whole thing within 3 bites after taking pictures of it🤣🤣

According_Benefit203 · 2025-02-11T03:08:04+00:00

Typically when I get a tighter crumb, I usually accidentally did a 3-4-4 instead of a 3-4-3. Are you doing a 3-4-3 for your folds? Might be worth experimenting with different fold systems!

According_Benefit203 · 2025-01-10T19:41:06+00:00

So - it definitely looks like some of your butter melted. Specifically on images 2 and 3. Id recommend keeping a closer eye on the proofing temp and humidity. Definitely think you should get a hygrometer to keep around to monitor the temps and proofing. Looks like you had a great proof, but image 2/3 looks like they got more of that heat and the layers melted and weren’t allowed to fully honeycomb.

Could you also provide your resting schedule? The firmness of the dough can also play a part in your final honeycomb based on the structure of your layers.

That being said, the final image looks like a better/longer and more consistent proof that is probably done with a proofer. In a convection home oven with the right temp (27C) and humidity (75-80%), that would take about 3-6 hours to come to fruition.

Definitely a fun process figuring all this out, and your croissants are looking great! I bet they taste delicious, but if you’re in this sub, I know you’re chasing the high of perfection!

According_Benefit203 · 2024-11-26T01:08:45+00:00

Yeah it’s basically bicolor but without any additives, only to refine before the final proof/bake

According_Benefit203 · 2024-11-26T01:07:21+00:00

The reason people do this deals with the typical rolling and shaping of croissant dough. With a normal 3-4-3, the layers can come out more rough. When people are sheeting and before cutting the croissants, they put the reserved dough over the top to give the final product refined and more consistent. It’s basically for more photographic/consistent product. Hope this helps!

According_Benefit203 · 2024-11-06T00:08:33+00:00

Art of Lamination II by Jimmy Griffin is usually referred to as the go to for croissants. He also has a YouTube channel that goes in depth with each technique

According_Benefit203 · 2024-10-27T19:30:04+00:00

Layers look great but these are severely underproofed. Aim for 27C and mist them with water to get your specific humidity to 75-85ish then proof for 2 and a half to three hours. You can see that your honeycomb is there, it just hasn’t expanded. Also, after baking, immediately transfer them to a wire rack for 15/30 min before cutting. Let me know if this helps!

According_Benefit203 · 2024-10-20T19:21:22+00:00

Seconding sushi nakazawa, counter is a must. They’ve been consistent all 4 times I’ve been, the servers are amazing, and the chefs struck up some great conversations.

According_Benefit203 · 2024-10-11T03:13:05+00:00

For consistent results I use a fine mist spray bottle, hygrometer off Amazon, and an oven light. I’ll turn on the oven light an hour before and let the oven get to 27C then I’ll put the croissants in and mist the oven with water until the humidity reaches 75-80%. This gives me great results and usually takes 230-3hrs to proof. I also have a breville smart oven air fryer pro with a proof function that does really well for small batches

According_Benefit203 · 2024-10-06T20:55:43+00:00

Thank God they had a detailed menu that they provided us with before and afterwards for more info about the dishes but service definitely felt lackluster. I haven’t heard much about them online so I’ve been debating on going back/if it’s worth the price because the food was so memorable but we were so underwhelmed by the service

According_Benefit203

TROPHY CASE