Jean Philippe Maury Patisserie

[duckduck]

I was hoping you'd post! Thanks for the report Skwerl!

[Skwerl]

Okay, I can't take it any longer!! Neil, if you can, please tell us what's in the fruit compote-ish center of the Exotic. I've been jonesing for it for the past two days. The flavor was incredible!

[nightscotsman]

As far as the store goes, the help was very professional and polite. On my last visit there, I noticed that the guy who waited on me had "Chicago" written below his name. Are the counter staff also pastry chefs, Neil?

All of the Bellagio employees wear the name of their home town on their name tags (mine says Seattle, though I was born in Portland). The counter staff aren't pastry chefs, though several of them are trained to make the crepes. The crepes are good and very popular. The exotic version has a filling of pineapple, mango, and papaya with mango and passion puree and malibu rum.

Okay, I can't take it any longer!! wacko.gif Neil, if you can, please tell us what's in the fruit compote-ish center of the Exotic. I've been jonesing for it for the past two days. The flavor was incredible!

The center of the exotic (which is my favorite as well) has mango/passion fruit cremeux (the same as the ball on top), semi-candied spiced pineapple, calamansi gelee, and coconut dacquoise. It was originally developed for the last World Pastry Competition and helped win the US team a gold medal.

WOW , after viewing all your pictures I'm seriously thinking of moving to Vegas next year.  Are there any job openings in the Pastry Shop at the Belligio?  How do you like your job, and the people you work with? What kind of befits do you get at the hotel?  Also is your hotel union?

There ARE job openings in our kitchen! The restaurant dessert team (where I work), which makes the dessert pastries for the shop as well as several restaurants, room service and other retail outlets, will probably be fully staffed in the next few weeks (I hope). However, some of the other teams - banquets, buffet, chocolate, production and danish - are looking for people. There are also several restaurants in Bellagio that have their own pastry staff which may be looking for people as well.

Working here is great. Quality is very high in all parts of the operation - 90-95% of our product is made in-house from scratch using the best ingredients. The chefs expect a lot from the staff, but everyone is treated fairly and with respect. Working hours are very reasonable (normally 8 hour days with 2 day weekends) though most shifts start very early (our team is starting at 3:00 am now), pay is very good and benefits are excellent (full medical, 401k, pension, job security). The hotel is fully unionized and MGM Mirage, the parent company, has a good relationship with the union.

To apply for a job, go the MGMMirage.com web site here. Fill out the application on-line, then call the hotel between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm and ask to be connected to the pastry kitchen office (don't wait for them to call you) to arrange an interview.

[johnny70]

Only just seens these for the first time, fantastic, is all i can say, i may seem a little dim asking this but where is this place exactly? i know Las Vegas, is there a website, seriously considering getting married in vegas next year, and after seeing this it might just swing my finacee when she see's these pictures.

Neil if your ever over in England you'll have to pop into my kitchen and give me a lesson in these desserts. Fantastic.

Regards

JOHNNY

[nightscotsman]

The shop is in Bellagio, which is at about the center of the Las Vegas Strip. There isn't a web site for the pastry shop, but you can check out Bellagio here: http://www.bellagio.com/

[Skwerl]

Calamansi... That's a type of lime, isn't it? I'll have better luck finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow than calamansis here in KC! It was the spiced pineapple that was of particular interest to me. I couldn't quite figure out what it was for some reason. I thought it was a mixture of several different fruits. Perhaps the other flavors threw me off. At any rate, it's incredibly delicious. Thanks for the info, Neil. I think I'll try playing with those flavors this weekend. The combination is magical.

[nightscotsman]

You can sometimes find frozen calamansi juice in Asian markets. They also usually sell bottled or canned calamansi juice for drinking, but that would contain water and sugar. The flavor is similar to yuzu in that it kind of tastes like a cross between lime and tangerine.

[Skwerl]

I need to go canvas the Asian markets then. Thanks for the tip! Would you consider a mixture of tangerine and lime juice to be a reasonably close substitute?

[gfron1]

This thread was a savior for me yesterday! I haven't been to Vegas since the Patisserie was opened, and I have been drooling over the pictures in this thread for quite a while. A friend just went to Vegas for a conference and I asked him to stop by and get me something. I told him specifically to get the Exotic based on the pics - but they were out, so using this thread I found a few alternatives - all of which were available and are now on their way back to New Mexico as we speak!

Thanks to everyone who posted on this thread!

[Sugarella]

I am so glad gfron bumped this thread back up....I'd never seen it. What an unbelievable visual feast!

A few questions Neil, if you don't mind. Maury mentioned they're selling 300-400 pastries daily in the shop....I assume that pace has kept up but has it increased? And are the pastries changing or do you generally keep them the same, excepting variances in seasonal fruits, of course?

And if you had to guess.... if you included the dessert pastries only, the finished packaged chocolates, cookies and candies, and the larger ordered cakes, how many people would you say it takes to comfortably produce all of that? (Not the crepes, sandwiches, or gelattos.)

Thanks.....

It's a wonder pastry chefs don't get laid more than rock stars.....

[nightscotsman]

Last Christmas was the first time since opening they changed the dessert pastry line-up by adding a few seasonal items. A couple months later they replaced the Exotic with a new version layered in a glass, discontinued the peanut/milk chocolate and a couple others, and added a triple chocolate mousse cake and a tiramisu also in a glass. So there have been some changes, but infrequent.

It's hard to put a number on how many people produce product since there isn't a team that does work only for the shop. I'd say there are more than 15 people on several teams in the kitchen producing and finishing desserts, cakes and chocolates. I believe they are hiring right now, if you're interested...

I'm afraid I can't comment on sales numbers.

[Patrick S]

I was in Vegas this past weekend, and in between drinking and partying I managed to visit JPM's twice. On the first visit I tried the Intense and the Rose Macaroon, and bought the little assortment pack of macaroons (coffee, chocolate, rose, and a green one with a flavor I didnt recognize). On the second visit I had the Exotic. I can say without hesitation that these were among the best things I have ever eaten in my entire life. After walking about a mile in 112F (no, I'm not kidding) heat, the cool, creamy, fruity Exotic was practically a revelation.

The Intense is far right, and the Rose Macaroon is next to that. Sorry I didnt get better pics. What can I say -- I was overcome with lust and couldnt wait any longer to eat.

Here is the exotic. Just amazing.

[Teri Everitt]

Neil, those pictures just wiped out EVERY negative association I have about hotel food.

I'm kind of glad I can't get there in person.....it would take me so long to choose which pastries to buy and try first....I'd probably get kicked out for loitering....or drooling.

[rjwong]

On my last vacation back in Oct., I make it a habit to visit JP Maury's Patisserie to have a crepe (sometimes) and some pastries (always):

[prasantrin]

On my last vacation back in Oct., I make it a habit to visit JP Maury's Patisserie to have a crepe (sometimes) and some pastries (always):

Which crepe did you get? I loved the chicken one, and actually enjoyed it more than the quiche at Bouchon.

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Those look good! When I was there, I had the exotic and I must admit, I was disappointed. After all the raves I had read here, I expected to be blown away, but I wasn't. It reminded me too much of the artificial-like coconut flavour of Malibu rum. But those chocolate goodies...yum!

I just noticed the eyeball on the right one--what was that?!?!?

Edited November 15, 2006 by prasantrin (log)

[donniedarko]

Omg. Absolut brilliant.

[Othafa9]

I just noticed the eyeball on the right one--what was that?!?!?

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[Patrick S]

I was lucky enough to travel to Vegas again in March, and while most of what happened in Vegas will stay in Vegas, I did bring back this picture of a pastry I had at JMP's. I think it was called "Blue Moon," it was a caramel-filled pastry shell with a hemisphere of cappuccino mousse on top:

[BryanZ]

In early August 2007, I spent a few food-centric days in Las Vegas. My full trip report can be seen here. This is an excerpted report on my meal at Jean Philippe:

Located a few steps off the main lobby of the Bellagio, the shop kind of sneaks up on you. There’s no doorway or storefront, just a curved counter that sits off to the side of a hallway. Looking up, however, one sees the famous chocolate fountain and a variety of striking pieces of chocolate-based décor.

Exotic crepe and Raspberry pastry

Unfortunately, the shop was out of the Exotic pastry that I had really wanted to try. I settled on the Raspberry. A shortbread-like crust held both raspberry and pistachio creams and was topped with a mountain of fresh raspberries. The flavors were good, but I thought the crust a bit too hard or thick. I would’ve liked a cakier bottom layer, more in line with pastry’s creamy center. Also had an exotic crepe, filled with mango, guava, and passion fruit puree. This was a forceful filling, rather topping, for the delicate crepe that, while tasty, was a bit overwhelming. Paired with a super potent coconut ice cream it was a bit too much for me after my breakfast-lunch buffet and the snack at Mesa Grill. Nevertheless, this is a good pastry shop, but perhaps not as good as I expected or wanted it to be.

Edited August 19, 2007 by BryanZ (log)

[ejw50]

I'll post my pics of JPM's after I get back from vacation. Called down to try to get a tour of the kitchen (was denied, boo hoo), but they do have a nice looping video of the kitchen internals

[QbanCrackr]

could anyone be so kind as to tell me what a cremeux is? i tried googling it but just came up with recipes rather than descriptions =/

[jsmeeker]

Has anyone had a chance to visit the newly opened second location of JPM Patisserie in Aria? I am wondering if they offer anything new or different or unique that isn't available at Bellagio.

[edwardsboi]

The pictures of the pastries look absolutely stunning and jewel-like, but to me, the more important question, is how do they taste? Too often, especially for pastries, the pretttier it looks, the duller it tastes.

Are there any can't-miss, must-try items for this shop?

[jsmeeker]

They are really good.

I DID get a chance to visit the new shop at Aria last summer. I can't recall what I had there, but one that I liked from a previous visit to the Bellagio shop was "the intense" if you really like chocolate, you will like that one.

[Genkinaonna]

When I was in vegas last and went to the one in the Bellagio I had the Macaron filled with rose pastry cream and raspberries. It was like biting into a summer garden in full bloom. Best thing I ever put in my mouth, before or since...

Everything I tried lived up to it's looks. Can't wait to go back again.