Vegas Uncork’d: Sweet Decadence workshop

Sweet Decadence, a Friday morning workshop with Jean-Philippe Maury of Bellagio, drew a very happy audience. Bon Appetit’s editor, Barbara Fairchild, hosted this delectable session. Chef Maury and his assistants demonstrated various pastry techniques to make one plated dessert.




The following components were created for this very delicious dessert:

Yuzu ice cream; Sweet dough; Streusel; Pastry cream; Almond cream; Lemon curd; Cream cheese chiboust; Blueberry sauce; Raspberry consomme.

The result was a warm blueberry cheesecake tart and yuzu raspberry dish on a customized plate.

The blueberry sauce surrounds the cheesecake tart, comprised of sweet cream, almond cream, lemon curd, and frozen chiboust.

The yuzu raspberry dish contains streusel, fresh raspberries and yuzu ice cream. This particular dish has an added feature: a decorative white chocolate dome over the ice cream. When the warm raspberry consomme is poured, the contrasting textures of melted and hard white chocolate, the ice cream, and the streusel are quite noticeable.

Vegas Uncork’d: Payard Patisserie & Bistro

Bon Appétit’s conference, Vegas Uncork’d, started on Thursday night (8 May 2008) with a dinner inside Caesar’s Palace at Payard Patisserie & Bistro, hosted by François Payard and Dorie Greenspan.

It was a small, intimate gathering of about thirty people.

And I finally got to meet Dorie Greenspan! Dorie comes across as a very wonderful lady, very pleasant and down-to-earth. More later ...

I dined with a lovely couple from Canada.

As I was told, the husband didn’t know the real reason for going to Las Vegas until his wife told him ... two hours into their flight.

Attending the food conference was the gentleman’s surprise birthday gift from his wife. Nice little surprise, ehh?

As I was implying, the Payard Patisserie & Bistro is not a huge place,

which made for a nice, comfortable evening.

Dorie Greenspan introduced chef François Payard.

And now, onto dinner ...

Tomato Gelee with Monk Fish & Tomato Salsa
Chartogne-Taillet “Cuvee St. Anne” Merfy, Montagne de Reims, Champagne, France

Asparagus Salad, Artichoke & Tamarind Dressing
Skouras Moschofilero 2007, Peloponnese, Greece

Braised Short Ribs, Mashed Potatoes and Baby Carrots
Trapiche Single Vineyard Malbec, Vina Francisco Olive 2005, Mendoz Argentina

Actually, the short ribs were not beef short ribs.

It was boneless veal. It tasted very good, but they were not short ribs.

At this point in the evening, Dorie Greenspan sat at our table.

That's correct, I had ...

Dessert with Dorie

Seared Pineapple with Thyme & Coconut Sorbet
Slow Baking Apple, Cardamine Streusel, Granny Smith Sorbet


Milk Chocolate Payard Candy Bar with Gianduja & Caramel Glaze
Palet d’Or, Hazelnut Succes, Marquise Chocolat & Crispi Wafer
Lustau Moscatel Emilin, Jerez, Spain

My opening Vegas Uncork’d experience started out well. It gets better later.

Payard Patisserie & Bistro
Caesar’s Palace
3570 Las Vegas Blvd. South
Las Vegas, Nevada 89109
(702) 731-7292