There are a whole lot of good issues to eat in Las Vegas. One way or the other I can by no means bear in mind any of them. I’ve visited semi-regularly over time—like a penny tumbling towards the underside of a settee, each American finds themself in Las Vegas a sure variety of occasions of their life—and I do know that I’ve managed to feed myself and even to put in writing about doing so. Nonetheless, when individuals ask me for Vegas suggestions, I draw a clean—all of the shiny on line casino eating places imported from New York and California blurring into one lengthy completely positive meal I want I had loved some other place. There may be one exception: I inform them to go to the Bellagio Resort and On line casino and eat an almond croissant.
I first tasted this almond croissant in 1998, not lengthy after the Bellagio opened. This was a giant second for Las Vegas. For the earlier decade town had been distancing itself from the grownup pleasures on which it had been based, advertising itself as an alternative as a household vacation spot, with casinos formed like cartoon castles, Egyptian pyramids, and bizarro New York skylines topped by rollercoasters—extra Mickey Mouse than Rat Pack.
The Bellagio, opened by on line casino magnate Steve Wynn, was designed to alter all that. Along with adopting the looks of a Lake Como palazzo, it featured an artwork museum, the soon-to-be-iconic acrobatic fountains, and, most strikingly, 17 eating places—lots of them high-end names imported from New York and San Francisco. Nowadays, when each restaurant group within the nation appears to have a Vegas outpost, this appears utterly pure. However on the time, when the thought of eating on the Strip nonetheless dropped at thoughts large buffets and indicators touting $3.99 PRIME RIB!!!, it appeared unbelievable, if not faintly ridiculous.
{A magazine} editor pal of mine had been invited to take a look at the brand new eating choices, so I, together with one other pal, tagged alongside. We slept three to a room and dined opulently at Le Cirque, Osteria Circo, Jean Georges Vongerichten’s Prime Steakhouse, and a number of other different spots. I bear in mind the meals fondly however dimly. Largely, I bear in mind blearily stumbling into the foyer’s espresso store after a late evening spent on the blackjack desk, reimbursing the home for our comped meals, with curiosity. That’s the place I discovered the almond croissant.
It was my Platonic excellent: moistened with a drizzle of rum syrup however nonetheless buttery and crackling, crammed with a layer of almond cream that frivolously oozed out into the pastry’s delightfully chewy burnt edges, and topped with a snowfall of powdered sugar and a plate-armor coating of toasted almonds. Of all of the absurdities of the weekend, which included seeing a van Gogh inside listening to distance of slot machines, this appeared probably the most preposterous: Why was this seemingly throwaway pastry so good? What genius of viennoiserie lurked behind the scenes? Who cared this a lot?
