[nggallery id=1635]

It’s hard not to like Layers, even if you loathe the appellation (as in its name, not location).

It is one of many bakery/cafes springing up (Bread and Butter, Chocolate & Spice) faster than intellectually-challenged TV shows.

But the name gives us pause.

What does it mean? Layers? Of what? Cakes? We saw a few. Mille-feuille? We didn’t see any. Levels of flavor? Fair enough, but you have to think about it for a minute.

Thus does “Layers,” as seen from the road or read, violate ELV’s Inviolable Cognomen Requirement: The name of any business should tell you something about it.

Back in the day, restaurants had names like Umberto’s Clam House, where the customer could pretty much tell that 1) the owner was a guy named Umberto, and 2) clams were on the menu.

These days, restaurants revel in obscurity with names like Noma, RN74, Ma Pêche, M. Wells, Thyme and our personal favorite: Virus.

Compared to “Layers” the “Macaroni Grill” is a fount of informational clarity. Plus, it doesn’t sound very appetizing, although it would make a great name for a whorehouse.

Nomenclature aside, our grilled cheese panini was thick and gooey with good cheese, but could’ve used some pickle for contrast, and the chicken pot pie was exemplary in form, but lacking in seasoning.

Service (of the food, not the order) took forever (in an almost empty restaurant at 1:15 pm), but the chocolate/peanut butter cookie was out of this world and worth the wait.

Bottom line: someone obviously cares about good cooking here, and but for a tweak or two, it’s hard to fault the groceries or the techniques.

But in our experience, people who groove on cakes* (wedding and otherwise) don’t pay much attention to good, savory food, and vice versa. That this place succeeds in a gastronomic wasteland is a testament to its skill at keeping both types happy.

If and when we return, it’ll be for those cookies and sandwiches, and not a bunch of spongy layer cakes.

Oh…perhaps we neglected to mention…ELV doesn’t just hate cupcakes, he pretty much hates all cakes. Except for carrot cake, pound cake and Boston Cream Pie — which is really a cake, but since it’s named after a pie (and filled with custard), we give it a pass.

Our lunch for one that could’ve fed two came to $18.76.

LAYERS BAKERY CAFE

665 South Green Valley Parkway

Henderson, NV 89052

702.221.2253

www.layersbakery.com/index.html

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

* There’s a reason cakes are so popular with the hoi polloi — they’re the easiest thing in the dessert lexicon to make. Any fool can make one, and nothing but fools seem to decorate them.