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This may come as a shock to you, but Eating Las Vegas is not always about restaurants.

Sometimes it’s about getting a guided tour of the International Baking Industry Exposition from the Bon Breads folks so we can see how the big boys do it.

And by big boys, we mean manufacturers of humongous baking ovens, slice and bag bread machines, mixers you could bathe in, and multi-purpose flours and innovative whole grains.

Sort of gives you a woody just thinking about it, doesn’t it?

Everything from small bore, hand made goods to assembly lines that Toyota would be proud of is on display here — whether you’re making cupcakes for Costco or baguettes for your backyard. Come to think of it, a lot of these machines were concentrating on @#$%^* cupcakes….which are to great baking what NCIS is to Crime and Punishment.

As impressive as the monster machines were, the highlight of our tour (courtesy of Bon Breads’ Carlos and Katia Pereira and Jennifer “I really don’t talk much on my cell phone during lunch” Curland, was seeing the extravagant sculptures and baked goods on display during the international team baking competition — This year pitting teams from North and South America against each other.

The Colombian team, coached by Pereira, won the South American portion, while the good ole U.S. of A. vanquished Mexico (and Canada) like Sam Houston at San Jacinto.

The other highlight of our tour was meeting Michel Suas — the godfather of American artisanal baking — and watching his troops perform at the San Francisco Baking Institute booth.

You can have all the $%^&*! cupcakes you want. Give us a fresh baguette, a croissant, (or a three pound pain de camapagne) anyday.