Monday, January 28, 2013

Bouchon Bakery [Las Vegas, NV]

The Venetian Resort & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
 
Lately, I've been in a pastry-craving phase. I kept wanting to visit all these different bakeries and patisseries while in Vancouver and that phase stuck to me while heading to Las Vegas too. While I was researching about places to eat in Vegas, I saw on a food blog that talked about Bouchon Bakery and I immediately added it to my list of places to visit.
 
Bouchon Bakery is owned by Thomas Keller, a chef, restauranteur and cook book writer who is reknowned for his multiple-award winning restaurants The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Per Se in New York. Bouchon Bakery first opened up in Yountville, which is home to Bouchon Bistro, then Beverly Hills and New York. In 2004, Bouchon Bistro opened in Las Vegas and the bakery followed! 
 

It was kind of hard to find the bakery inside The Venetian. We had to look at the directory a few times in order to grasp the location and direction to get there. I was initially looking for a shop but the bakery was actually just a kiosk by the theatre entrance.  It's a modest-sized place that didn't have a tonne of items but I think all the baked goods housed there would be delicious no matter which one you chose.

There were so many goods that I wanted to get and I really wanted to buy some to take home but alas, we were in the middle of our vacation and I knew I probably wouldn't have the time to go back on our last day...so no flaky pastries to take home :(

Top left: Sticky Bun
Butter brioche, pastry cream, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, candied pecans
Top right: Chocolate Almond Croissant
Bottom: Peanut Butter & Jelly Macaron

It was 6pm when we arrived and I KNEW it would ruin our appetites for dinner but I didn't care!! I chose the Sticky Bun because BRIOCHE!!! OMG it was so sinful...soft, sticky, sweet and nutty all wrapped by a buttery brioche bread. The bread was so buttery that it almost resembled a flaky pastry, not a doughy, chewy bread-like texture.

I also chose a macaron because they looked really pretty (perfectly round, smooth, no bumps, and it was a pretty large size. It was around the same size as the macarons from Thierry). Compared to the other regular flavours (chocolate, coffee, lemon etc.), the peanut butter and jelly flavour jumped out at me due to its uniqueness. I don't think I've seen PB&J macarons up in Vancouver. The cookie was just as good and it wasn't too sweet with the addition of the creamy peanut butter.

W went for the chocolate almond croissant. It didn't really look like the usual crescent-shaped pastry as it was more square. Of course, that didn't alter the texture and taste of it! The croissant had two bars of dark chocolate embedded inside along with a small amount of almond paste. It was quite messy eating the croissant since it was so crisp and flaky. With each bite, little bits of almond, icing sugar and pastry rained down onto the table. It made me look like such a messy eater but I swear it's not my fault!

I'm glad I got to pay Bouchon Bakery a visit. It (temporarily) satiated my pastry cravings and I got to cross it off my "to visit" list in Vegas :D

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