These are the words that greet you as you look over the menu at Brio Tuscan Grille.

Our server placed a basket of artisan sourdough and flat bread with a large pat of butter on our table to nosh on as we waited for our first course, Brio’s Bruschetta Quattro – a sampler of the 4 different bruschetta’s that they offer at this location. What an amazing first course! Of the 4, one in particular was preferred over the others. But each were perfectly fine, in their own right.

(From front – first 4 pieces: Roasted Pepper & Fresh Mozzarella Bruschetta (2); Mushroom Bruschetta (2))

(From front – first 4 pieces: Sliced Steak Bruschetta (2); Proscuitto with Asparagus Bruschetta (2))

Roasted Red Pepper & Fresh Mozzarella Bruschetta

Humongous round of mozarella topped with roasted red pepper, fresh basil strips, balsamic vinegar and freshly shaved parmesan cheese

Proscuitto & Grilled Asparagus Bruschetta

THE FAVORITE!!!

Fontina cheese, topped with Pinot Noir onions, Grilled Asparagus and Proscuitto

Mushroom Bruschetta

Fontina cheese topeed with roasted portabello mushrooms, truffle oil, arugula, prosciutto and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Sliced Steak Bruschetta (de-constructed)

Gorgonzola Dolce topped with arugula, fennel, charred tomato, shaved parmesan, Tuscan Italian Dressing and a rare steak slice

Brio is known for their steaks and chops and I can never turn down a good steak. Then top it off with some gorgonzola… OH MAN!!!

Gorgonzola Crusted Bistecca (Filet)

They got it right the second time. The first one came out a bit too overdone for me. It was cooked more medium-well to well (i.e., super dry and cardboard-ish) than medium-rare that I ordered (which, if you ask me, is how a steak should be cooked, especially a filet). Anyway, back to the dish… Every thing on the plate was good. It was too pretty to eat, but after taking this picture I got over it and started to dig in. Nothing out of the ordinary here, but I enjoyed it. Your basic meat and potatoes kind of meal. The gorgonzola that topped the filet added a different dimension to the steak, but did not overpower the steak as bleu cheese sometimes can.

We also tried a pasta dish.

Shrimp & Lobster Garganelli Pasta

Garganelli is a penne-like pasta. Its freshly made and hand rolled. (I imagine they’ve got some newbie sous chef in a back room somewhere rolling this pasta all day long. Poor guy…) The pasta was cooked al dente then tossed with lots of shrimp and chunks of lobster in a light sauce.

As a “peace offering” for the botched filet, the manager was generous in offering a dessert on the house. We chose the Creme Brulee Dolchino Trio.

Creme Brulee Dolchino Trio

(more like duo – they slipped in a cake dolchino instead of the chocolate creme brulee)

Vanilla Creme Brulee, Orange Creme Brulee and Milk Chocloate Caramel Cake Dolchino

Milk Chocolate Caramel Cake

These three little cups of heaven more than made up for the overdone filet. APOLOGY ACCEPTED. We’re friends again *HUG-HUG* *KISS-KISS*.

Brio’s Tuscan Grille is a chain restaurant. They’ve got locations across the nation. Definitely stop by one of their locations if there’s one close to you.

*****

Brio Tuscan Grille

Las Vegas Town Square

6653 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, NV 89119

(702) 914-9145

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal – anytime of the day. Especially if someone else is cooking. So you can only imagine how excited I was to try Payard Patisserie and Bistro. The much anticipated Las Vegas location of this famed pastisserie and bistro opened last fall at Caesar’s Palace on the Strip. A well-known name among the culinary set, it amazed me to find this place deserted, save for the host/server and the cook/warmer-upper. The time we arrived probably had a lot to do with it – Sunday, approximately 5:30 p.m. They do serve dinner entrees here also, but still no other patrons to be seen in the restaurant or at the two tables located adjacent to their take-out counter.

Our early dinner was just “eh” – not really bad, but not really good either. For half the price, we could have ordered the exact same items from the take out counter and the quality of the food would not have been any better or worse.

Here’s a glimpse of what was ordered:

Classic Croque Madame ($17.00)

Ham, Cheese, Bread, Bechamel Sauce, Sunny Side Up Egg (I opted to have my egg prepared over-easy.)

Served with a salad of mixed greens tossed with a balsamic vinaigrette and homemade potato chips.

A “gourmet” ham and cheese sandwich – gourmet because of the Bechamel sauce – topped with an egg prepared over-easy. For $17.00, I expected something a bit over the top. But it was just your usual croque madame. No “pomp and circumstance” here. Just a straightforward croque madame. The homemade potato chips were really good. Served hot, crisp and with just enough seasoning that did not overpower the chips at all.

Chicken Cocktail Panini ($17.00)

Ciabatta, Thinly Sliced Roasted Chicken Breast, Arugula, Tomato, Parmesan Cheese

Served with a salad of mixed greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette and homemade potato chips.

Being known more for their desserts, you’d think that we would have ordered dessert, but we were so turned off by this point that we ended up going somewhere else, for dessert. But, here’s a look at the some of the sweet stuffs that Payard offers at their patisserie counter. I was able to take this photo before the girl at the counter got on my case about taking pictures.

I’ll definitely give this place another try. Maybe stop by for brunch sometime. Maybe my opinions would be different. We’ll have to see.

*****

Payard Patisserie & Bistro

Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas

3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South

Las Vegas, NV 89109

(702) 731-7292