Day 14

Macarons: Day 1 of my Vegas vacation has already provided some amazing food, courtesy of Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery. I got to sample their amazing pastries and coffee on my last trip in 2009, and since we're staying in the Venetian again, the bakery is right downstairs. Score.

I heard about macarons from some friends of my GF's that recently went to Paris. They promised that they would be life changing if I ever got to try, and I have to say that wasn't far from the truth.They offered several different flavors (pistachio, vanilla, passionfruit, coffee, etc.) but I went for chocolate. The macaron looked like a cookie, but tasted much different. The outside reminded me of a devil's food cookie in texture - it had a thin crunchy top, but when I bit into it, it was filled with a light frosting that almost reminded me of a ganache, but not as heavy. The actual cookie was more like a cake, but the thin, crunchy top layer was one of my favorite things about it. I could have seriously eaten 20 of these in one sitting - they were that good. I'm still trying to decide what flavor I'm eating tomorrow.

We also had an excellent roast beef sandwich on a baguette, and an insanely good carrot cake cookie. Is there anything Thomas Keller can't do well?