Jean Philippe Patisserie
 Las Vegas, Nevada         Date of Visit  12/13/10              http://jpchocolates.com/ 

Last year after eating we walked through the Bellagio on the way to see the fountains and the conservatory. Both classics. While walking through we discovered the shop of Jean Philippe Maury, the Executive Pastry Chef of the Bellagio. We watched the Wonkaesqe chocolate fountain pour it’s rich potion from level to level but did not venture into the small shop.  Back to see the fountains and conservatory we would not make the same mistake. Chef Jean Philippe has earned two World Pastry Gold Medals and the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. Check Please! Walking around the shop made us miss the first show at the fountains…there is so much packed into such a little place. And it all looks so good. There are pastries, chocolates, chocolate sculptures, finished desserts, truffles, and on and on.
 

Has Anyone Seen Augustus Gloop???
 

Standing under the fountains we tried hard to limit ourselves but ended up picking some desserts and some breakfast pastries for the next morning. The Crème Brule had more specks of vanilla bean in it than any other custard I have ever seen. The sugared top was odd as it was not solid but a liquid “burnt sugar.” It tasted good but was hard to get home…and it flavored a little of everything else in the box.

The pumpkin cheesecake was encased in rolled fondant and was smooth and succulent with a prominent but gentle pumpkin flavor. The key lime tart had a buttery crust and the key lime mousse tamed the tartness to a significant degree, still true to the fruit though. The desserts were exactly what you would expect from such a precise and renowned artist.

The next morning we tried some of the breakfast pastries. A chocolate croissant, a cinnamon roll, a maple, pecan cinnamon roll, and a chocolate, chocolate, chocolate muffin. The muffin didn’t last the night well and became sort of a crumbly mess with just a breath. It had varying sweetnesses of chocolate throughout, however, and might have been a really interesting study in cocoa based substances. The chocolate croissant had a layer of exceptional quality chocolate running through an extraordinary pastry. In culinary school we made real and fake croissants. I learned one of the real tests is to grab both ends and pull. If you have to work to pull it apart you have classic croissant. This thing was like trying to pull chain link apart, with a light buttery flavor and great chocolate. My favorites were the two cinnamon rolls. Much more dense than most I have tried and with a relatively thin dose of frosting on top. Though thin the frosting added a serious measure of sweetness to the healthy amount of cinnamon pervading the roll itself. If you get a chance to stop at the Guinness World Record chocolate fountain, pick up something to take with you. The guy knows what he is doing.

Goodies to Go!