Francois Payard, Payard Patisserie & Bistro; Vegas Uncorked Master's Series

Afternoon Tea with Francois Payard? No, Not Really ... Vegas Uncorked Misrepresents and Overbooks and Underwhelms.

I was terribly excited when this event was listed on the 2010 Vegas Uncorked website - ever since Jason and I had the pleasure of visiting Payard's in April 2008 when we tried his three-course dessert tasting (long since eliminated because no one else was apparently booking it) we had been looking forward to visiting the patisserie again. And now here was the perfect opportunity! Afternoon tea ... maybe some champagne ... fabulous pastries and confections ... a cooking demonstration by the master himself ... and a glossy cookbook to help us re-create the impossible at home.

For those of you who have never been to Payard's in Las Vegas, the patisserie and bistro are tucked well into the smoky bowels of Sleazer's Palace. It's not easy to find, but well worth it once you finally reach your destination. The actual dining area is quite small and when Jay and I arrived and saw the line of people waiting to gain entrance to the establishment we suspected there might be a potential problem staring us all in the face.

There was not enough seating for the number of tickets that Uncorked had sold to the event. To make matters worse, rather than serving guests at their tables after they were seated, the staff had laid out a buffet of foods for people to serve themselves as soon as they entered the bistro - this created an even longer delay in getting people checked in for the event, admitted to the bistro, and then seated with their food.

Jay and I found a seat at one of the last available tables, and there had to have been at least 15-20 people in line behind us. We shared with one other couple and a group of ladies - there really wasn't enough room for all of us but there wasn't much that could be done. Many of us, and I include myself in this grouping, were visibly and vocally annoyed by the situation - after paying $125 per person to attend, guests should not have been standing around the bistro searching for a place to sit and enjoy their food. I will go further and say that I don't think for that price tag that we should have been serving ourselves. And then I will go even further and say for that price tag, not offering champagne or wine or sherry as a drink option was pretty much unforgivable - guests were offered iced tea, water, coffee, or hot tea (with a teabag). Are you following me so far? This was not an afternoon tea as anyone with even the foggiest notion of teatime would have expected or envisioned.

Personally, I was also disappointed in the food. I admit that I expected a traditional tea service and experience with some elegant French interpretations of the long-standing British custom. What we had were some savory appetizer selections, some of which were probably variations of standard tea sandwiches, and a selection of pastries and cookies from Payard's daily menu. I expected more than that based on our dessert tasting from 2008 - I thought that there would be far fewer dessert options but that they would be created by Payard and his staff for our immediate enjoyment during the event. We didn't have anything that afternoon that couldn't have been purchased from the refrigerated case over on the retail area of the patisserie and in fact, when supplies were running low, I saw staff members head over to the patisserie and bring back items for us that has been set out for purchase.

Not cool.

Interestingly enough, this was the second Uncorked event that we attended where the primary hostess from Bon Appetite, Barbara Fairchild, was also in attendance. I found it surprising and somewhat ungracious that she didn't mingle with the guests at either event ... maybe she doesn't like the unwashed masses or too many of us were chewing with our mouths open? The staff at Payard's were as helpful and kind as they could be under the circumstances and Payard himself was charming and friendly and a lot of fun during his cooking demonstration. We waited in line to have him sign our cookbooks and to get a couple of photographs and he was as gracious as could be. We told him how much we'd enjoyed his dessert tasting and how sad we were to find it was no longer offered - he talked with us about it for nearly ten minutes, telling us that the hotel management had forced him to get rid of the offering because it wasn't making money. Such a shame because it was really one of the coolest, most delectable experiences Jay and I have ever had in Vegas.

To sum it up, so that you can get to the pictures and move on with your lives, we do not hold Francois Payard responsible for the snaufus at this event - we place that blame squarely on the shoulders of the Uncorked event planners and his senior staff. Based on our experience, however, we can't recommend this for anyone should it be offered again unless it comes down in price or the event format is significantly altered. We found out later that we would have been much happier at the cocktail / appetizer event at the Wynn where guests ended up with tasty food and booze as well as a mixology cookbook and a cocktail set. Sometimes I just choose wrong! I do have to say, though, that we both really enjoyed meeting Francois Payard - his commitment to, and passion for, his craft are very evident and he really was a pleasure to watch and very friendly to two hungry dorks who know nothing about pastry or chocolate, other than that they taste great together!

Plate of stuff


Buffalo mozzarella & tomatoes


Weird Salad, Salmon & Cream Cheese Roll-Up, and Vanilla Sponge Cake

Mystery Tart, Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse, Lemon Tart, Chockie & Vanilla Cakes

Same choices, different view and a Chocolate Berry Cake!

Some kind of roll ...

Watermelon Salad

Salmon Roll-Ups

Shrimp Shooters

Cookies

More Cookies

Pucker-Up Lemon Tart!

The Red Cake everyone wanted ... with a pink macaroon!

All of these are for sale in the Patisserie

Francois Payard ... talking to us about making a salted caramel chocolate-peanut tart

Cookbook signing!

He's got that French charm going for sure!

I still think Jay is cuter!


For those of you who are interested in the dessert tasting Jay and I enjoyed at Payard's in April 2008 ... here's the link to my review: knock yourselves out!

http://oybolshoi-gastropodtravels.blogspot.com/2008/05/payard-patisserie-caesars-palace.html