PATISSERIE MANON – So Very Very French

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Do you love good pastries?

We do.

Do you love what the French have done over the past four hundred years to the art of refined sugar, white flour, butter, cream, chocolate and dough?

Let’s face it who doesn’t?

Have you been consistently disappointed with the baked goods at the West Charleston Whole Foods in the past year (ever since it changed suppliers)?

Let’s face it who hasn’t?

Do you hate supermarket bakeries with a passion?

Of course you do.

Assuming all of the above questions were answered in the affirmative (and if you’re reading ELV, we assume you have the brains/good taste to do so) then you need to make a beeline to the space formerly housing Bleu Gourmet (right behind Fleming’s) where Jean-Paul Layden and his wife Rachel have opened a pastry shop that brings superior baked sweets (and savories) to the neighborhoods.

Layden hales from Dunkerque in northern France, and his missus was born in Brittany — making them as French as La Marseillaise. They operate two patisseries in Tahiti, of all places, and apparently thought those environs were too confining for their talents, compared to our humble burg, so east they came to raise Vegas’ pastry IQ.

And raise it they have, with delicate, intense macarons, eclairs from heaven, nice croissant (and pain au chocolate), and a bear claw-like “almond croissant” that is soft, nutty, chewy, and worth going out of your way for. On our croissant-o-meter, these rank a half a click below Payard’s, and maybe a notch less buttery than those at the patisserie just to the west of the entrance to the Gare du Nord in Paris (France, not Kentucky)…but that doesn’t mean they aren’t darn good.

Also worth a trip are the daily quiches and specials, ranging from a béchamel-infused croque monsieur, to the occasional cassoulet.

But there is a problem.

Because the previous operator in this space was operating a restaurant much larger than its lease and business license allowed, the Layden’s have had to re-configure the space and get additional approvals before they can operate a café here, as opposed to just selling their wares over the counter. Everything is on track, but it may still be some days (or weeks) before you can sit down on premises and enjoy these superlative pastries.

In the meantime, you’ll just have to stop by, say “bonjour,” grab a baguette, and experience a little slice of Paris in a town that needs more of them.

PATISSERIE MANON

8751 W. Charleston Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89117

702.586.2666

Also with a Boulder City location:

534 Boulder Highway

Boulder City, NV 89005

702.476.3131

www.patisseriemanon.com

CARNEGIE’S Crazy Good Pastrami and Plastic Slaw

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We at ELV know from good pastrami. We’ve been chowing down on it since we were knee high to a yarmulke.

Think of pastrami as corned beef with a higher education. We heart corned beef, of course, but once you coat it with pepper and then smoke it, something other-worldly happens — it turns into the best sandwich meat on the planet.

As we’ve said before, the best corned beef in America is at Langer’s in L.A.. It’s so peppery and smoky and rich-yet-non-fatty that we never go to SoCal without stopping by (despite its sketchy neighborhood) for a pound or two to bring back to the high desert for later consumption.

When cravings hit closer to home, only the Carnegie Deli in the Mirage comes close to crafting a conspicuously covet-worthy creation.

Carnegie’s pastrami is not done on premises. In fact, almost none of its food is made anywhere close to Las Vegas. Most of its products are made in its commissary in New Jersey and shipped here….including a superb cheesecake and various other items New York fressers have come to know and love.

But that doesn’t stop them from being real good. The swiss cheese is strong and nutty, the bread invariably soft and fresh, and the cole slaw sweet and tangy…even if an occasional unwarranted visitor pops up in the mix.

Forgivable? We think so. Especially since we harbor no illusions that this food stuff came from anywhere but a plastic bag.

And the taste of that pastrami can cure a lot of sins…

Our lunch for three that was enough for five came to $56.

CARNEGIE DELI

In the Mirage Hotel and Casino

3400 Las Vegas Blvd. South

Las Vegas, NV 89109-8923

702.791.7111