Sweet Dessert Dreams...

On my last post, I commented on the cool visit to restaurant Alex and others in Las Vegas. During that trip, although I had read about it and the chef and heard much about both in various articles and from colleagues, I had yet to experience the shop and taste the treats personally. I love dessert and all things sweet. Although I oversee the entire kitchen and am really more active on any given day in the savory, I gravitate towards that that is of dessert nature. Having traveled to some great places in Europe in Paris, Milan, Venice, Zurich and even Germany, I have always been searching for that kind experience here in our own backyard... the US! When I was living in San Francisco, the closest shop that I absolutely loved was La Nouvelle Patisserie, ran and masterminded by Jean Yves Duperret. He is a master pastry chef. Well, this did it. I found another place that is heavenly sweet~ Jean Phillipe Patisserie in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel on the strip.

After trying some of the cool offerings, I wanted to share this with you. Many, many people stop by there each and every day and waking moment...wait a minute, Vegas does not sleep, so that sounds off. Oh well, here are some of the shots of the place. Some of the bites that I tasted was first a trio of gelatos, freshly made and smooth; hazelnut, which was delicate and light, a coffee, nice and rich, yet again, delicate and a rich dark chocolate. Sublime! Next, we sampled a few dessert pastries...

the first, a wonderful combination of two favorites, Chocolate and Banana! It was called Chocobana...a small, round crisp sablee crust filled with caramelized banana cremeaux, topped with dark chocolate mousse, powdered cocoa dusted over top and a halo of tempered dark chocolate and filigree erupting out of the top. The flavors of chocolate and banana were great together, which the caramelization made it over the top.

The next was called Blue Mountain, again, a concoction nestled inside a crisp sablee, this time a toasted hazelnut version, filled with a a thin layer of feuillatine, then dark, rich chocolate fudge, a thin bitter chocolate slab in the center, then dark chocolate and cappuccino mousse piped over the top. It too had a dome and dusted with cocoa powder. Too much chocolate at 11pm, not even. Finishing with some various cookies and macaroons, an espresso and some nibbles on the chocolates that I purchased, albeit intended solely for my crew at the club, I was set. No wonder nobody sleeps. I highly recommend a visit to the desert to check out this adult wonka factory. Here you will experience not only the flavors and tastes of the various masterpieces in his showcase, but you will also see many things around the shop, like a fresh made-to-order crepe station, with many various fillings and toppings.

The gelato bar(although I have seen bigger, but the flavors are great). A mass array of "French Style" pastries, savory bites like panini, filled croissants and the like, cookies, boxes of artisan chocolates, candies etc, and the mammoth Chocolate waterfall! It takes over 2 tons of melted chocolate to make this thing work. It has over 500 feet of stainless piping and tubing for the flow. It took over two years to design and develop but it was worth it. Enjoy, and good night.