Chocolate Fountain at Jean-Philippe Patisserie
For Immediate Release
Media Contacts:
Andrea Brown
MGM MIRAGE
(702) 650-7534
Susan Hosmer
Bullfrog & Baum
(323) 651-1380
DISCOVER A FOUNTAIN OF YOUTHFUL DELIGHTS
WITH A CHOCOLATE CASCADE AT BELLAGIO
Jean Philippe Pâtisserie introduces a first-of-its-kind free-standing fountain of melted chocolate
LAS VEGAS – From far down Bellagio’s promenade, a mesmerizing figure entices curious guests with visual
splendor and aromatic wafts: jutting out into the main corridor like the prow of a ship is a glass-enclosed,
floor-to-ceiling chocolate fountain emerging from Jean Philippe Pâtisserie. Displaying a spectacular series of
melted chocolate cascades, this first-of-its-kind spectacle is the tallest chocolate fountain in the world.
Designed by award-winning Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury and Norwood and Antonia Oliver
Design Associates, Inc., the fountain took a year and a half in planning and design. The result is a genius work
of kinetic sculpture and a daring feat of engineering. Standing 27-feet tall, the masterpiece circulates nearly
two tons of melted dark, milk and white chocolate at a rate of 120 quarts per minute.
“I’ve been creating sculptures out of chocolate for years, but exploring the particular properties of melted
chocolate has been fascinating,” said Executive Pastry Chef Jean-Philippe Maury. “Each of the three types of
chocolate behave very differently, and we had to be aware of this in the design. It’s been a wonderful
challenge!” The visual impact of the fountain is as compelling as its chocolate is appetizing: six spouts in the
ceiling initiate the lyrical descent of rich dark, velvety milk and glistening white chocolate streams through a
maze of 25 suspended glass vessels. Cast in ½-inch thick, rough-hewn aqua glass and held in position by
anchoring cables, each vessel was built to precise size, shape and design by Montreal artist Michel Mailhot.
Some oblong, some rounded, each irregular, the vessels hover