Payard Pātisserie & Bistro

Step into a Parisian café complete with crêpe station, chocolate shop and pastries that will make your mouth water and you’ve retracted from the hustle and bustle of Caesars Palace walkways and into Payard Pâtisserie and Bistro. The beautifully crafted woodwork, crystal chandeliers and bistro-style tables that line the entry way to Payard add to the restaurant’s Parisian café charm.  

While at Payard, sip on cappuccino and munch on a hand-crafted sweet or savory crêpe in the café section that spills out into the hotel corridor or segue into the dining room where a full menu is available. 

The dining room features menu items like brioche pain perdu French toast with fresh berries and whipped cream for breakfast. Indulge in something sweet like Payard chocolate waffles with Nutella and bananas or try something more healthful like broccoli and cheese quiche. There are also omelet choices with a selection of fillings including ham, fresh vegetables, mushrooms and cheeses. 

A full continental breakfast is also offered from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. and includes beverages, assorted pastries, bagels, cereals and lighter fare like granola with low fat yogurt and fresh berries.  

For lunch, a selection of hot soups and crisp salads like tuna niçoise and an artfully plated seared salmon salad with cucumber rèmoulade and pineapple are offered. Savor sandwiches like the croque monsieur or croque madame (a croque monsieur with an egg on top) served with béchamel and a mixed green salad. Other sandwiches include tomato and mozzarella panini and a chicken cocktail panini. 

And then we get to the good stuff. Payard offers an all-dessert menu for dinner. The prix fixe menu includes your choice of three courses at $45 per person. Course choices include a cheese and fruit course, a coffee, caramel and nut course, an orchard course and a chocolate course.

With course choices like poached sickle pear with pomegranate cabrales cheese and Szechuan pepper ice cream, milk chocolate Payard candy bar with gianduja (smooth hazelnut-flavored Swiss chocolate) and caramel glaze, red wine tart with sangria-prune ice cream, and chocolate dishes like devil’s food cake, cardamom pot de crème, chocolate pudding and whipped crème fraîche, dinner never tasted so good. 

Payard’s dining room interior is impeccably decorated with no detail overlooked. Artful wall sconces line the walls and teardrop lighting installations hang from the ceilings. Tables are set carefully and placed with yellow and navy blue-striped napkins, a nice alternative to average linens. In addition to tables with chairs and a circular bar-style seating arrangement that overlooks a chef at work, Payard also has plush, over-sized soft white booths to cozy-up in, great for a romantic night out. Soft up-lighting radiates from behind the booths adding to Payard’s aesthetically sophisticated décor. 

Both Payard’s dining room and café offer unique dining that doesn’t scream Parisian, just softly whispers it to you as you indulge in that first bite of crêpe and savor the aromatic fusion of fresh pressed espresso and chocolate - lots of chocolate. 

Attached to the café section, Payard has a full chocolate shop with delicately flavored chocolates, rich truffles and boxes available for take home. Try a melt-in-your-mouth hazelnut chocolate, a palate-pleasing pistachio chocolate soft in taste and rich in texture or an indulgent liqueur-filled chocolate. 

Payard Pâtisserie and Bistro appeals to all your senses. The restaurant welcomes casual dining, but is masterfully elegant and offers sweet juxtapositions like juicy hamburgers and a brioche pain perdu French toast in the same sitting. Both décor and menu enhance the dining experience without pushing anything other than what Chef François Payard is: a master French chef with a true handle on cuisine and dining simply, elegantly and effortlessly—at least for guests.  

-- By Nikki Neu