Dominique Ansel Bakery, Las Vegas - Part 1

Dominique Ansel Bakery, Las Vegas - visited October 23, 2022

I've been meaning to do this write up for awhile but time kept getting away from me. By now I've amassed so many pictures from Dominique Ansel's new bakery at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas that I can't do justice to all of it in one blog post. Hence, this is the beginning of a multi-part series because let's face it, I'm a huge fan girl of the man and his baking talent so I'm happy to rhapsodize multiple times about everything I've eaten and seen.

I'll start off by saying yes, his stuff is pretty fancy and, to some, rather expensive. I believe in spending for good food, especially great desserts, so that doesn't bother me as thankfully, I can afford this level of high end desserts and I don't spend my money on much else, besides travel. And YOLO....

I had moved to Las Vegas in the middle of 2022 (summer, triple-digit temps for weeks on end, I don't recommend it as an intro to Vegas) just as I was recovering from Covid. Not an auspicious beginning. But my outlook brightened in the fall, not just because of cooler weather, but also my favorite baker opened his new bakery less than a 30-minute drive from where I lived. Woot!

I didn't go quite on opening day as I figured that way lay madness and long lines but I was there only a few days later. The lines weren't quite as long but the small corner carved out of Caesar's Palace casino was pretty hopping. The bakery also had retail shelves where you could buy his cookbook as well as assorted DAB paraphernalia and more of his packaged treats. But for the initial visit, I focused on what was in the display cases.

My taste buds aren't as fancy as I would like and some of the more exotic flavors aren't my thing at all. But still, I enjoyed looking at all the fancy and appreciating the creativity and meticulous care that went into creating the mini-masterpieces. For Las Vegas, he created a special set of 7 desserts that are only available at the Dominique Ansel Bakery, Las Vegas. And they are mind-bogglingly beautiful. The pictures don't do them justice, both individually and as part of the set that makes up the display cases. If you ever get a chance to visit this bakery in Vegas, your eyes will get, well, an eyeful, of gorgeous patisseries.

If all that fancy is not your thing and you have more plebian taste buds, nothing wrong with that and there are options for you (and me) as well in the form of macarons (not for me), pain au chocolate and croissants (me, me) and cookies (also me).

I knew from my prior visit to the NY location of Dominique Ansel bakery that my favorite is the DKA - Dominique Kouign Amann. I was so happy to be able to get it again. I've had good kouign amanns elsewhere but the DKA is still by far my favorite version of it.   

I didn't buy the 4-pack, although don't think I didn't consider it. But they're best eaten the day they're purchased and even I can't eat more than 1 a day. So I bought a single and took it home to eat later. It was as good as I remembered from New York, with that crunchy-sweet caramelized outside and flaky layers. DKAs have spoiled me for croissants. Whenever I have a choice, I go for the DKA every time.

Now, of course, he's more famous for his cronuts and each bakery gets a new flavor every month. I didn't try the opening month's flavor and I've forgotten exactly what it was except it was some kind of jam. I'm not a fan of jam or any-berry-not-in-their-original-state so I didn't get it. Also because I had a single-minded focus on the DKA. But still, the cronut was pretty to look at. 

I did get my mom and my sister the Goldfish since it was flavored with calamansi (a popular Filipino flavor) as well as mango, my sister's favorite. I didn't try it but they said it was good. After they were finished, the poor goldfish look well and truly speared so I didn't take a picture of what it looked like once they were done; there wasn't much left, haha.

My sister before she killed the poor fish