The Palatium (pronounced puh LAY shum) Buffet at Caesars Palace combines the elegance ora fine restaurant and the convenience of lavish food selections for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Part of a $20 million expansion/modernization project, the restaurant opened Sept. 9, 1985, adjacent to the expansive Olympiad Race and Sports Book in the Forum Casino.

The Palatium takes its name from the second-century meeting place of Rome's first Academy of Chefs. Palatium, Latin for Palatine, also was used in naming the many royal residences and buildings in the vicinity of Rome's Palatine Hill.

The restaurant consists of dining areas designed in semi-circular satellites around a double-line food service center with carving station. Two dessert islands spotlight luscious pastries, including tarts, cheesecake, Napoleons, cream puffs and sugar-free pies. Nearby, are two frozen yogurt sundae islands, with more than a dozen tempting toppings.

Open seven days a week, the Palatium features separate breakfast, luncheon and dinner menus Monday through Friday. Friday night's dinner menu includes an optional whole steamed lobster for an additional $3. On Saturday and Sunday and some holidays, a special

Luncheon and dinner menus afford a wide variety of flesh breads, elaborate salad bar, vegetables and entrees, with fine roast meats and poultry always available at the restaurant's ornate carving station.

The Palatium entrance, located near the Caesars Magical Empire Box Office, is a double colonnade of ivory-colored enamel pillars crowned with polished brass capitals. The decorative coitus continue throughout the dining area. Other interior accents include black enamel, peach mirror, neon lighting, backlit glass panels and brass fixtures. The design themes of etched glass and polished brass are echoed in the food service area -- the most elegant buffet design in Las Vegas.

Two original murals adorn the north dining area. Commissioned by Las Vegas design firm Tamarind Inc., the oils depict stylized scenes from ancient Rome -- a chariot race and the artist's concept of the Pantheon. Christine Shoppe, of Four-Five Designs in Santa Monica, Calif., painted the murals.

The restaurant is designed to accommodate small private parties, along with individual patrons, with a separate hostess station for group reservations and a dining area set apart for group or general seating.