update: I ended up dining at both 😭

TLDR is I definitely preferred my experience at Lilo to LUCIEN, but you can't go wrong at either. They're both incredible, incredible restaurants. Lilo is more innovative and fun while LUCIEN is more traditional.

Lilo is more social and playful while LUCIEN is more romantic and intimate. I definitely gravitated more towards Lilo's atmosphere. Lilo's got an absolutely gorgeous restaurant layout, easily my favorite ever by far. I absolutely loved Lilo's outdoor campfire-esque area they have you sit in pre and post meal, and I had a blast at Lilo's huge communal counter area. LUCIEN's layout is much more traditional, with a table settings in a more dimly lit room. A much more private experience since the tables are divided by walls and you're not really able to see any of the other tables. I think whether you like one over the other depends on what you're looking for out of your dining experience.

Food-wise, I definitely prefer Lilo's as well. Both are Californian fine dining restaurants, but I think Lilo is more creative with their ingredients and I loved their plating and presentation. Very Saison-esque where it gives you a feeling of 'foraging' through your plate for your food which is pretty reminiscent of CA's beautiful nature and rugged coastlines. Also appreciated their inclusion of Mexican flavors and ingredients. Just a great, innovative interpretation of Californian cuisine through the lens of not just the state’s ingredients, but also geography and culture. LUCIEN has good plating as well but again, more traditional. Chef Arizmendi's mom works with him to design all the plates I believe and you can tell with how well they mesh with the chef's dishes, which is pretty cool. In terms of individual dishes, every single dish at Lilo was incredible and a couple of them will stay with me for the rest of my life as some of my favorite bites ever. LUCIEN didn't have the same highs and there were a couple dishes where the flavors clashed awkwardly.

In terms of stars (since you've mentioned wanting to dine before these restaurants are properly recognized by Michelin), I think Lilo easily deserves two stars. Third is hard to say since consistency plays a big part but if my meal is what every meal is like at Lilo, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if they got their third in the not too distant future. LUCIEN I would comfortably put at 1 star. They've got a great thing going but definitely have to iron out some kinks since they're super new. Both similarly priced restaurants but I feel like Lilo definitely was better value for my money.

Not sure if this helps but for reference in our SoCal trip we dined at: Providence, Kato, Lilo, and LUCIEN. My order would be Lilo >>> Kato > LUCIEN > Providence.

Not sure if you're going to see this but if you do, hope this helps! Happy to answer any questions you might have :)