that doesn't help me get oatmeal
This is a dessert we picked up at Payard Patisserie, a new pastry shop in Caesars. It's not easy to find -- we had to ask the concierge, in fact. It's towards the back, I think in one of the newer towers, across from Rao's. Definitely worth seeking out, though. This was called a Sicilian: "madeleine sponge cake filled with cream cheese mousse, cranberry gelee and a dusting of ground Sicilian pistachios topped with a cream cheese crumble." Amazing. Payard was pastry chef at Tour d'Argent, Le Bernardin and Restaurant Daniel before opening his name-sake patisserie. Next time we're there I'm planning to visit way more than just one time.
Also on the sweets front in Vegas, we made a couple of stops at the Vosges store. Wed PM they were having a pre-Valentine open house, with free samples of truffles and drinks and such. The store's really small and it got crowded pretty fast so we didn't stay long. Sampled some truffles and checked out stuff we wanted to buy. Came back the next afternoon and picked up a few things -- gifts for others and for ourselves, including a new chocolate bar I've never seen before, one with plantain chips. Haven't tried that yet. Will report back when I do.
Probably the most surprising we saw the whole trip was the rare book store at Palazzo. It hadn't opened yet, but they'd stocked the display windows and you could see some of the books on the shelves inside. Which included several James Bond novels, Harold and the Purple Crayon, a UK edition of the first Harry Potter, and Where the Wild Things Are. The ones I remember from the windows were a facsimile (I assume) of the Ship of Fools and an edition of Huckleberry Finn that was priced around $70K. I'm not sure how many high-rolling antiquarian book lovers come thru Vegas. On the other hand, I'm sure they're rent is no more PSF than the make-up store around the corner and you'd have to sell a hell of a lotta blush to get to $70K. Very cool and definitely not what I expected to find in a casino mall.
(next time: guacamole, buffet, Boneyard)