Chocolate and Spice
Crème Brulee French Toast
Red Velvet Cake
Chocolate Chip and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
Chocolate Salted Caramel Brownie
Blueberry Scone
Owned and operated by Las Vegas Boulevard veteran Megan Romano, last seen during a December 2012 trip with friends before relocating to Las Vegas, Chocolate and Spice had long been on the ‘to return’ list, and when absolutely atrocious customer service from the new team at Bonjour Bakery quickly turned me off to ever recommending their goods again the timing proved fortuitous, though the simple pairing of the words “Aunt” and “Jemima” soon left me wondering just how ‘artisan’ anything else could be from a pastry chef so bold as to peddle her goods at the Downtown Summerlin “Farmer’s Market.”
Admittedly a hit and miss experience during the previous visit, some items shining while others were texturally compromised or simply over sugared, trip two to the cute West Sahara space saw little changed in terms of décor or execution, the oft-raved scones still as delicious as ever with blueberries in place of cherries while two cookies fared quite well as crisp rims encircled buttery centers that avoided the common pitfall of trending too sweet.
Tempted by a half-dozen cakes, even at the early hour of 7:30am, it was unfortunate that the brightly colored red velvet was fairly faint with cocoa considering cream cheese frosting that was appropriately tangy with a texture smooth as silk, and although the brownie upped the chocolate content plenty there was something strange about the brownie’s overall texture – neither salt nor caramel really prevalent, instead replaced by a cloying sweetness and ‘coating’ sort of mouthfeel that leads one to question the presence of paraffin amongst the ingredients used.
Moving last to one of the restaurant’s prepped-to-order signatures, a “Crème Brulee” French Toast that proves a bit of a misnomer as the bread is never actually torched after being dredged in custard and pan fried crisp, it is here that the main source of my complaints truly came to light – the answer to a question of whether the maple syrup was 100% pure answered with the name of Monsanto’s favorite racially tinged pseudo-syrup making me thankful I always carry my own while putting into question the quality of every single item I’d earlier consumed.
TWO AND A HALF STARS: Considered by some to be one of the city’s best locally owned bakeries, but clearly willing to cut corners despite prices that that certainly aren’t “cheap,” one is left to wonder how Chef Romano has gotten so far with such a business model, an Trotter alumni who would no doubt disappoint her former employer if he were able to walk into Chocolate and Spice today.
RECOMMENDED: Scones, Oatmeal Cookie.
AVOID: Aunt Jemima Syrup, Brownies of equally questionable ingredient sourcing, Red Velvet Cake.
TIP: Open at 7:00am Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays.
WHAT THE STARS MEAN: 5 World Class, 4 Excellent, 3 Good, 2 Fair, 1 Poor
http://chocolatenspice.com/
