Wednesday, April 8, 2009 | 1:23 p.m.
Greetings, Vegas epicures.
The next time you slather a piece of artisan bread with French butter in an upscale Vegas restaurant, take note. You may be eating a creation from Master Baker Carlos Pereira, owner of Bon Breads Baking Co., a 15,000 baking facility located behind an industrial park near the cross streets of Arville and Hacienda.
Pereira bakes for such illustrious local outlets as the Bellagio, Lettuce Entertain You, (owners of Mon Ami Gabi, Eiffel Tower and Joe's, among others,), Mario Batali's three restaurants, and many others. All in all, this native of Lima, Peru, bakes almost a hundred different breads, rolls and foccaccias, managing a staff of 65.
Recently, I was lucky enough to visit his facility, where he was conducting a tasting for local chefs. We sampled the dense, caraway seed studded Jewish rye that he bakes for the famous deli Canter's at the TI, and a country white that he does for B & B at the Venetian which he calls, to the chagrin of the French, Country Italian.
Among the array of breads he does, there is pretzel bread, feta cheese with herbs, and a cranberry bacon bread that you won't soon forget. Pereira, who trained with Michel Suas at the San Francisco Baking Institute, refers to his mentor as "the father of artisan breads in America." Visit the Steakhouse at TI to try his killer red potato bacon bread. For more information about where to eat these amazing breads, call his company at 380-1080.
Meanwhile, for fans of Andre Rochat, who ran the downtown Andre's for nearly 30 years, the chef, his cuisine, and his team, are all alive and well at both the Monte Carlo and at the Palms, where he has the top floor restaurant, Alize.
Recently, Rochat, and his Monte Carlo Chef de Cuisine Greg Englehardt, prepared a masterful dinner in conjunction with Martin Estates wines of Rutherford, Calif. Dinner started with Australian lobster mi-cuit, and progressed to whole roasted quail paired with seared foie gras.
After a palate cleansing sangria espuma, a dual preparation of Cervena venison startled the guests with its intense flavors, followed by an international blue cheese tasting with Stilton, Gorgonzola and Roquefort cheeses, accompanied by Martin Estates 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon.
Pastry chef Tammy Alana then dazzled everyone with a chocolate caramelized tartlet with a chocolate tube filled with coconut ice cream. These seasonal Bec Fin dinners, as Rochat calls them, are a steal at $125 per person.
Max Jacobson is the principal food columnist in the Las Vegas Weekly, and a Food and Wine Journalist for Vegas Magazine. He can be reached at 702-990-2454 or [email protected].
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