Here’s the new yardstick for determining the validity of our local dining scene: When every neighborhood has a ridiculous French bakery-café—the kind of place you visit every Saturday and/or Sunday and agonize over which croissant or quiche to have with your coffee—then we’ll know we’ve arrived.
La Belle Terre is one of those places. It’s about two years old, planted in a West Sahara strip mall beside stalwart Mediterranean eatery Paymon’s, but it’s under new ownership. If you visit on the weekend, there will likely be a long line snaking past the treasure-filled pastry case. Rest assured anything and everything is worth the wait, especially because you’re gonna grab a fresh, crispy baguette on the way out.
La Belle Terre supplies Trump International Hotel Las Vegas with croissants, and if these buttery, flaky masterpieces are good enough for the Donald, they’re good enough for me. Actually, I prefer the simplicity of the kouign amann, sweet and crisp like a croissant but with a little more bready chew. And when you’re faced with Nutella crepes, a classic croque Monsieur, or a bacon-gouda quiche, sometimes you just have to throw up your hands and order one petite pastry. Or one of everything.
La Belle Terre 8390 W. Sahara Ave., 685-7712. Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday & Sunday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.
