City Series: Las Vegas, Payard Patisserie

You ask if I just wandered Las Vegas tracking down all of the French masters?  Pretty much, but would you expect anything less?

On this particular day, I was focused on Francois Payard.  A friend in my book club gave me an autographed copy of his book, Simply Sensational Desserts and I have been swooning over the recipes for months.

This heavenly display was at the Payard Patisserie and Bistro within Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas.  I arrived at lunchtime and ordered a Crepe Supreme (Chicken and Mushrooms in a Mornay Sauce).  It was made in front of my eyes (see below) at the cafe counter and it exceeded my expectations.  It was divine, truly. 

I walked around inside Caesar's Palace, the pool area and down into the large gallery of shops - it was fun to browse inside a Judith Leiber handbag shop - I saw all of these $5,000 purses in person - my pick? The Beehive. 

After an hour, I wandered back to Payard and tried 2 of his homemade ice creams - pistachio and tres leches.  I was hot and cool ice cream sounded wonderful.  I enjoyed them, but looking back at my photographs, I can see now that I should have tried the pear millefeuille (shown in the center).  Next time!