Payard Patisserie Caesars Palace

Payard Patisserie & Bistro, Dessert Tasting (4/21/08)

Sometimes it pays to be an anal retentive, restless, never-satisfied vacation planner. In my mania to find unique and delectable dining options in Las Vegas, I visited the website of every hotel I could think of that's located on the strip. And then I looked at every restaurant listed on each hotel's website, considered their menus, weighed the costs... I really did, please stop laughing... looked for reviews, and grew very, very hungry.

No discussion was even necessary when I saw that Payard's offered a Prix-Fixe Dessert Menu. It was a foregone conclusion that Jay and I would break out our vacation stomachs in earnest and stuff ourselves full of French desserts. For any of you dearies reading who want to indulge in six gourmet desserts like we did, take note: the dessert tasting is offered nightly from 9PM-11:30PM and reservations are required. The patisserie is located deep within the winding, hidden corridors of Caesars Palace ... you have to trek through the casino to find it, which is the only negative thing we can find to say. This is the only experience of its kind in Vegas, and diners create their own three-course tasting menu from an amazing array of themed categories: Cheese & Fruit, Coffee, Caramel & Nuts, Chocolate, and The Orchard.

This menu is another example of our complete and utter lack of culinary imagination. Jay and I read the menu descriptions and made assumptions about each course and in every single instance (all six of them) we were completely taken by surprise. This review is going to differ from the others in that I'm not really going to write very much ... for me. The pictures speak far more eloquently than I can in this case. So, fasten your drool cups securely to your chins and let's go!

First up, a picture of the outside of the Patisserie, which is where you can purchase chocolates and yummy little baked goods.

The supports look like chocolate!


Display windows alongside the Patisserie showcase some of Francois Payard's incredible pastry creations.

I would happily eat any or all of these ,,,


I kind of wish we were getting married again so we could have cake like this!


Our tasting was scheduled for 10PM, but we arrived a few minutes early. Imagine our surprise when we were seated immediately and discovered that we had the entire place to ourselves! Our hostess told us that for some reason the dessert tasting just hadn't caught on in Vegas and they were considering doing away with it, but Payard himself is reluctant to do so. Pastry is his bread and butter ... har har har ... it's what he's famous for and he doesn't want to give up on Vegas just yet.

Jay and I have pondered this (or as my boss likes to say: we've cogitated over it) and we think that the problem is the location of the patisserie coupled with a menu that many Vegas tourists might consider weird and scary. A friend of mine who is originally from Albania also told me that Payard is offering a very European concept and menu - in Europe she said people commonly go to cafes for coffee or dessert and spend hours there engaging in conversation and watching the world go by. I think we all know that most Americans (myself included) are in too much of a hurry to sit down and just have a leisurely dessert in a cafe with a good cup of coffee. Even that most quintessential of American desserts - ice cream - has to be eaten quickly or its creamy goodness will melt and disappear forever.

All I can say is I sure am glad we decided to slow down and taste the chocolate! These next couple of pictures are the bistro itself, which is lovely with dark wood tables, and plush, white leather upholstery. It's a very elegant and refined setting and there is wonderful French music playing in the background - our waiter broke into song every now and then. It was charming!

Ooh, la la!!


Why do these curtains remind me of a bordello?


Since it was getting late (at least for us) we decided to forgo booze with dessert and ordered some cappuccino. Our waiter made the cappies himself and they were excellent - the espresso was so good that I hardly used any sugar in mine at all!

Cappuccino ... no more booze for us tonight!


In many restaurants the chef will send out an Amuse Bouche to prime guests' mouths for the meal to come; at Payard's the Chef sent out a miniature dinner to prepare our tastebuds for the delights to come. How fun is that?

From left to right in the picture below: Sea Bass in Balsamic Vinegar; Duck Pate on Chocolate Polenta; and Beef Carpaccio.

If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding ...


The sea bass was very good, especially with the balsamic, and I really liked the beef carpaccio, too. This was the first time I'd ever had beef carpaccio, which is raw beef that's been pounded really thin and is usually served with parmesan cheese. I don't think this was served with cheese, but it did come with a thin, little crisp of bread and it was very flavorful and tender. The jury's still out on the duck pate / chocolate polenta combination. I'm not a fan of pate, although this wasn't as bad as it could have been since it was served at room temperature; no, the real disappointment was the polenta, which I thought was gritty and a tad on the dry side. I washed the entire thing down with a big mouthful of Perrier and gratefully moved on to something else.

And then it was time for the dessert parade to begin!!!

Brenda's first dessert: Red Wine Tart with Sangria-Prune Ice Cream.



I was hesitant to even eat this because I felt like I was going to destroy a precious work of art. The flavors all worked really well together and what I remember the most from this selection is a hint of spiciness that reminded me of fall ... a mix of spices like nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. Tremendous, that's how I'd describe this option.

Jason's first dessert: Poached Sickle Pear with Pomegranate, Cabrales Cheese, and Szechuan Pepper Ice Cream. For those of you, like me, who've never heard of cabrales cheese before now, it is apparently a celebrated blue cheese produced in the Asturias region of Northern Spain. It's an artisan cheese made in small batches and pairs well with fruit. You may find this hard to believe but I actually liked this dessert better than the one I ordered. The poached pear and the cheese were perfect together - the sweetness of the pear took the moldy bite right out of the cheese and the end result was a creamy bite of heaven that just melted in my mouth.



Who are these Gastropods?


Brenda's second dessert: Coffee Eclair, Milk Chocolate Mousse, and Flaky Sable. Holy Mother of God ... I think I had an epiphany while eating this. That or it was a wholly new phenomenon known as a dessert orgasm. The chocolate mousse was inside the eclair, which was topped with coffee-flavored icing. The sable was the chocolate cookie on which the eclair rested. And those milk chocolate garnishes ... fabulous!



Jason's second dessert: Peanut Butter Napoleon with Milk Chocolate and Rice Crispies. This dessert was just as good as mine - a wonderful blend of chocolate and peanut butter with rice crispies for texture and some peanut butter ice cream for good measure! An excellent choice and so much fun to eat.

Brenda's third dessert: Devil's Food Cake, Cardamom Pot de Creme, Chocolate Pudding, and Whipped Creme Fraiche. Did I mention the dessert orgasm? I think I had another one with this choice. From the bottom up you'll see the cake, then the creme, then the pudding, and it's topped off with the creme fraiche and some shiny, edible gold foil. It was served in a teeny little almond milk bath in which regular and chocolate rice crispies were swimming. Our waiter told me that this was his favorite dessert of all the ones he'd tried so far on the menu and after eating it I can understand why. This was an unbelievable mix of chocolate flavor and texture - I wish I was eating it again right now.





Jason's third dessert: Warm Banana Phyllo Tart with Passion Fruit Sauce. It looks like a pastry version of the sun! I am not a big fan of bananas so I didn't try this, but Jason said it was very banana-ey and he thought the passion fruit sauce / seeds added a nice tartness that cut some of the overall sweetness of this dessert.





At the conclusion of our sugar-fest our waiter brought us a shiny, yellow bag and told us that it contained two complimentary Payard chocolate truffles. There is a clock that's been installed in the bakery and it's filled with chocolate nibs and cocoa powder and gears and whirring, whingy things. Every fifteen minutes the clock spits out a single truffle. It's just like something Willy Wonka would use in his factory!

What's your bag, baby?


Tiny little truffle box...


Best chocolate truffle, evah!

We snapped a picture of the truffle clock just before we left for the evening and started the long walk back to our hotel.

The amazing chocolate truffle clock!

So, what else can I say about Payard's? It was unbelievable and we enjoyed it so much that we seriously considered trying to get back in on another night so that we could try more French delights. That didn't happen because we decided to be pigs elsewhere, but it really would have been worth another visit. If you like dessert in any way, shape, or form and you're not averse to trying something a little different I would suggest you pay this establishment a visit and send your blood sugar levels soaring. It was one of the most unique and enjoyable experiences we've ever had!