At the entrance to Payard is a curved floor-to-ceiling walnut wine rack that continues the restaurant's curvilinear design. It is expansive with room for more than 150 bottles. Currently, port -- such as Grahams Late Bottle Vintage and Fonseca Porto Bin 27 -- is stored sideways on the racks, with small labels hanging from the necks of each for easy identification. The wine rack includes two refrigerated wood-framed glass cabinets that are perfectly integrated into the center of the sculpture for wines that need to be chilled. The structure is spotlit and has a recessed open cabinet that houses tall, elegant lilies. It's a beautiful touch to the entryway, as it matches the wood frame of the door and provides a tantalizing peek at what lies within.

Award-winning third-generation pastry chef Francois Payard is the author of several popular cookbooks, such as "Bite Size: Elegant Recipes for Entertaining," "Simply Sensational Desserts" and “Chocolate Epiphany: Exceptional Cookies, Cakes and Confections for Everyone.” His pastries speak volumes about his success. Not only can you enjoy Chef Payard's signature chocolates, pastries and macaroons, but you can also enjoy homemade ice cream, which changes with the season and includes flavors such as orange candy, hazelnut and berry. Whatever you order, it's sure to be delicious because Chef Payard pays attention to the details, going so far as to test his recipes along with Executive Chef Gregory Gourreau until they're perfect -- which is no easy feat in Las Vegas, where humidity and altitude make baking difficult. Of course, it helps that the chefs have a little bit of modern help, courtesy of Payard's high-tech kitchen, which features special humidity-free refrigeration in which the restaurant houses 400 containers of its homemade ice cream, not to mention a special flour room for making bread and Danish.