The Dessert You Have To See To Believe

One of the daytime activities at the convention was a cooking demonstration in the Bellagio's million-dollar kitchen studio. The first three courses of lunch were demonstrated and prepared by one of the hotel's main chefs, who, as it turned out, was on his last day working at the Bellagio. The next day, he left to join the catering staff of the Burj-Al-Arab, that sail-shaped hotel in Dubai where suites start at $1,600 a night and are bigger than my first two apartments combined. Appetizers were goatcheese stuffed zucchini blossoms, fennel-pollen-dusted scallops and butternut squash risotto. The salad course was microgreens and flower petals in a citrus-wildflower honey vinaigrette. The main course was free-range petaluma chicken breast stuffed with peas, sauteed pea tendrils and sous-vide white asparagus. The main course was the one I managed to splatter all over my white shirt. Cue the waiter with a napkin and a bottle of Pellegrino ($15 from the hotel honor bar) to blot up the chicken juice--and, before you go there with it, he let me do the actual blotting; he just decanted the mineral water onto the napkin for me. That is the kind of service that almost made up for the hotel's lack of an in-room coffeemaker.

The dessert course, designed and prepared by the pastry chef, is what is photographed above. Back in the 1980s, Kraft foods made a novelty product called Jello 1-2-3. Made properly (easier said than done), it separated out into a gel layer, a creamy layer and a foamy layer as it set. This dessert is much the same concept, except that the layers are created and layered individually and it is not flavored with a Tang taste-alike. The bottom layer is a jello made with hibiscus flowers, with raspberries floating in it. On top of that, there is a coconut cream layer topped with little coconut crunchies. On top of the coconut, there is a foam layer made with lychee puree, and nestled in the lychee foam is a scoop of rose ice cream, which should be one of Baskin Robbins 31 flavors. The thing sticking up on top is a sugar-coated rose petal. It was one of the weirder taste sensation I have ever had, but not in a bad way. Catering did not let us keep the glasses, although we did get a nice souvenir hat, which I did not wear through airport security.