Jean-Paul Hèvin Experience

[cabrales]

Bonjour Paris reoprts that Jean-Paul Hevin's chocolate boutique now has an outpost on the Left Bank (7th arrondisement):

16 avenue de la Motte-Picquet

Métro: Latour Maubourg

T: 011 33 1 45 51 99 49

(The pre-existing shop is at: 231 rue Saint Honore 75001 Métro: Tuileries. Website: www. jphevin.com)

http://www.bparis.com/newsletter1464/newsl...m?doc_id=139130

[Louisa Chu]

I had the exponentially great pleasure of finally going to JP's new shop - called Ter I discovered later from the packaging which I'm guessing refers to terroir as he emphasizes regional products, I'll ask next time - and dangerously realizing it's only an 8 minute walk from my home - 5 if I run - as well as meeting cabrales there! Ter's a modern and minimalist, chocolate brown and acid green space with boxed assortments displayed around, and a floating center island filled with cellophane sacs of single serve chocolates, marron glaces and feuilles/chocolate bark. We lingered over every item, finally decided on a boxed assortment and a large sac of caramelised hazelnut dark chocolate bark. Took it back to my place - via nearby Rue Cler, through the Christmas Eve hustle, past an overflowing Davoli - the ham place - and the boucherie next door decorated festively with still well-feathered capons, pheasants and whole pigs. Over tea and hours of conversation we methodically devoured nearly the entire box but agreed that we quite preferred the feuille/bark with its greater variation of texture as it was sprinkled generously with those caramelised hazelnuts rolled in cocoa powder. Will go back to try the patisserie items when they have them - today they only had one choice, an assorted box of macarons - soon.

[Bux]

Hevin also has a boutique in the sixth near the Jardin du Luxembourg. It's at 3, rue Vavin. I ran across it unexpectedly, but couldn't pass it without buying a chocolate macaron that was superb. I'm sure I've mentioned it somewhere on eGullet.

[Louisa Chu]

He actually has three locations total - the one in the 7th, the one in the 6th and the third's a full-blown salon de at the following:

Jean Paul Hévin

231 RUE SAINT HONORE

75001 PARIS

[laura]

Louisa have you ever been in the wonderful bakery on {I think St Dominique}

I believe it is called Millet.. When last in the area I thought their

brioche to be wonderful.I think the owner has another bakery in Tokyo.The coffee was also special.

[42390]

I ran across Millet on Rue St Dominique one afternoon after having lunch at Violon d'Ingres, a few doors down. It is an outstanding pastry shop and their chocolates are quite good too.

My favorite was the mini florentines, about 1.5 inches diameter. I now make a point to go there for the florentines any time I am in Paris.

Patricia Wells mentions this store in the Foodlovers Guide.

David

[Louisa Chu]

laura, I have not been to Millet but I will stop in the next time I'm over there - I'm a sucker for good brioche. I made it for the first time recently and it's amazing how rich and buttery is it can be.

It's funny that you ask because I just noticed them the other day and remembered a great millet bread that I used to get from a cafe in Chicago. It was a melon shaped loaf of dense bread studded with little round golden seeds. But the bakery's named after Jean Millet - according to Les Pages Jaunes - and not the millet seed.

And 43290, maybe you're thinking of another boulangerie/patisserie because Millet's on the other side of Bosquet. There's the really nice artisanal one almost right across the street from Violon or the other one about a block away but towards Bourdonnais. Or maybe it was Millet and your lunch at Violon just skewed your sense of geography.

Jean Millet

103 RUE SAINT DOMINIQUE

75007 PARIS

01 45 51 49 80

[Louisa Chu]

I should footnote that after our Hevin chocolate binge the other afternoon that we later suffered what my sister described as a chocolate hangover.

[laura]

As an aside I think Gerard Mulot's Bakery in the 5th or 6th is very overrated ,.. I purchased a fruit tart to bring to a friend in the

south of france, and it was definitely not up to the standards of Jean Millet. One hears a good deal about Mulot , but not much about Millet and he has

such wonderful stuff.His establishment is very tiny, but there are a few tables

where one can sit and enjoy the food. His cafe complet is expensive but worth

it. It is the opposite of the fashionable patisseries like Laduree, LeNotre, etc.

A neighborhood establishment, but one that is excellent, the standards of the

above without the cachet or atmosphere., definitely not your typical neighborhood bakery.

[Louisa Chu]

As an aside  I think  Gerard Mulot's Bakery in the 5th or 6th is very overrated ,..  I purchased a fruit tart to bring to a friend in the

south of france, and it was definitely not up to the standards of Jean Millet.

Mulot's in the 6th and I completely agree. I think his stuff is generally overly sweet and the fruit tarts I've had just disgustingly overdosed with nappage/glaze.

Plus their service is the most psychotically chaotic I've ever seen in a patisserie - when it's crowded you have to fight through the crowd to take a number, wait, order, take the order ticket to the cashier, wait, pay, take your paid-stamped order ticket back to the counter, wait, pick up and finally leave. Insane.

[cabrales]

JP's new shop - called Ter ... as well as meeting cabrales there!

I really enjoyed meeting loufood. I'd agree that the feuille sampled was appropriate, but a box of assorted chocolates described by the store as providing the broadest selection of JP Hevin's creations (at least those available in the store in the 7th) was disappointing. For me, the balance was lacking in many pieces, some of which were overwhelmed by nuts or other ingredients, say. I don't purport to know what is better chocolate, but the J-P creations sampled seemed to fall short to me.

[AdamLawrence]

Nipped into Hevin on rue Vavin at about ten to six on New Year's Eve to buy truffes for my cousin and also for his friend who lent us her apartment for our stay in Paris over the holiday. I'm not an expert on high-level chocolatiers but this place was seriously swish. More like a clothes boutique than a choccie shop. Really nice, helpful, people, though, despite the fact that they were busy and must have been fairly close to shutting for the evening. And fantastic chocolates - I think the best I've had. I must go back sometime soon.

Adam

PS - if anyone is in Paris in the very near future, the Constable exhibition at the Grand-Palais, curated by Lucian Freud, is quite superb. Seemed odd to go to Paris to see the most English of painters, but hey.... It closes quite soon I believe.

[Lesley C]

I think Mulot is amazing. Technically, his entremets are some of the best in Paris.

Hevin is my favourite chocolatier in Paris and I think his new Terra store -- located in his original shop -- is lovely. His other new store accross the street is also awesome.

Another superb new patisserie of note is patisserie Sadaharu AOKI at 35, rue Vaugirard. It's quite close to Herme's store.

[Steve Klc]

Cab--this seems somewhat clinical and detached: "For me, the balance was lacking in many pieces, some of which were overwhelmed by nuts or other ingredients, say. I don't purport to know what is better chocolate, but the J-P creations sampled seemed to fall short to me." Have you gotten to the point where you are enjoying dark chocolate--where bittersweet chocolate actually tastes good to you? And fall short of what?

[cabrales]

Steve -- No, bittersweet chocolate still tastes unappealing overall. However, I thought each of Pierre Herme, Maison du Chocolat and Christian Constant offered more balanced chocolates, in the sense of having an appropriately limited amount of ingredient inside the couverture relative to the outside chocolate component. There were a lot of nuts in the J-P Hevin chocolates that had nuts. For some where the added components were not nuts, there was still overutilization in my view. Of course, this was my first sampling of J-P Hevin.

[Steve Klc]

"Plus their service is the most psychotically chaotic I've ever seen in a patisserie - when it's crowded you have to fight through the crowd to take a number, wait, order, take the order ticket to the cashier, wait, pay, take your paid-stamped order ticket back to the counter, wait, pick up and finally leave. Insane."

Loufood--I first experienced this system at Fauchon and it initially struck me as a weird way to conduct business. It irked me to no end. Then I asked myself if the experience would have been different if each clerk behind the counter handled the whole transaction--including taking the money, processing charges and making change? I don't think so and frankly, I don't mind it when the person handling the food just handles the food and boxes it up. Money is dirty. Cash registers are dirty. Constantly removing and then replacing plastic gloves would be neverending and inefficient in places which require their staff to wear gloves.

Then I asked myself how I'd like to deal with this at every single station--bread, patisserie, chocolate, gourmet, etc. I wouldn't.

Then the other option would be just to hand over all the product to customers, approach the checkout register, stand in long lines a la an American supermarket, have it rung up, pay and leave. The problem with this is that it puts ALOT of emphasis on the person running the register to ring things up properly--and would require boxes, nicely tied with bows, to be opened and inspected in many cases, no? That line would be slowed by any problem, any discrepancy, and would be sure to snake its way throughout the already cramped store making it even less easy to engage the counter help.

I have now come around to appreciate the merit of this system in certain places--browse, order what you want, browse some more, collect your slips, have an espresso, wait in line to pay once--but all this time NOT having to schlep the stuff with you in an already crowded store, go back to collect your items, leave.

Now if only Fauchon were not a shell of its former self.

[Lesley C]

Fauchon just bought out the Flo Traiteur shops. So now Steve, not only will Fauchon be a shell of its former self, but with so many stores to run, the quality and style is sure to be watered down further. My sources tell me the bistros and restos owned by Flo have not been sold.

[Steve Klc]

Now Cab--leaving aside for the moment that though bittersweet chocolate "tastes unappealing overall" it has not prevented you from assessing chocolates and chocolatiers who depend primarily on bittersweet chocolate to create their product--I'm not sure what you're trying to say by:

"I thought each of Pierre Herme, Maison du Chocolat and Christian Constant offered more balanced chocolates, in the sense of having an appropriately limited amount of ingredient inside the couverture relative to the outside chocolate component. There were a lot of nuts in the J-P Hevin chocolates that had nuts. For some where the added components were not nuts, there was still overutilization in my view."

With this, are you essentially saying that the Hevin chocolates you sampled--presumably flat, dipped and enrobed "squares" of ganache--were covered with too thin a layer of chocolate--i.e. there was too much filling (the ganache) in relation to the shell (the pure tempered chocolate covering?) Is that what you mean by "appropriately limited amount of ingredient" and "overutilization?"

If so, what you just done for me, presumably Lesley and many other readers who appreciate fine chocolates--is reinforce our widely held view that the Hevin chocolates are superior and are more worthy--on a purely technical and skill level--because of this. Here's why: generally, the thinner the shell--the thinner the covering--the MORE skillfully prepared the bon bon. (It's harder to achieve this thinness and requires use of better, more expensive, more fluid chocolates.) This may not be what you're actually trying to convey--but if you take the roughly equal size and weight bon bon of Herme, Constant, Maison, Hevin, Peltier, whomever--say 10-12 grams--cut them in half--look at the filling and how thick or thin the covering or shell is--you can generally assess the better chocolate by how thick or thin the shell is, i.e. who has the least amount of chocolate after dipping or enrobing--and also by how evenly and completely the chocolate covers the ganache, including by flipping the bon bon over and assessing visually how cleanly the bottom was "footed."

Now, some of you may be saying that Steve's making a chocolate bon bon sound so complex. I apologize for that, but chocolates are a combination of so many delicate, intricate, scientific steps--and of course this does not take into consideration flavor yet--this just begins to speak to visual, clinical assessment of skill and technique.

But Cab, at this point this is also where flavor--where appreciation of dark chocolate "as an ingredient" has to come into play because the only way to judge or assess the skill of this enrobing, and the correct "balance" of filling to shell is to gauge how well the chocolatier has chosen the covering--i.e. the correct percentage, degree of bitterness, cacao bean blend--in relation to the amount and flavor of the filling.

That said, I feel there are many perfectly valid, incredibly helpful assessments anyone can make without even eating chocolate let alone enjoying chocolate: very detailed observations and criticism of the store, the service, the ambience, the packaging and design, the price and especially notes about the size, shape, consistency, shine of the chocolates--which would reveal alot about the skill and preparation and freshness of the chocolates. This can be ascertained simply by observing the product through the glass cases and would also convey alot about the knowledge or acumen of the observer.

Without tasting a chocolate, it could be sliced in half and assessed visually to great reward. But to talk about chocolate in terms of visual "balance" and an "appropriately limited amount of ingredient" and "overutilization" doesn't serve a critique of chocolatiers well--if it doesn't also include what glorious magic occurs inside your mouth when you eat it. That's where the true glory and success of any chocolatier is revealed.

I happen to believe all assessment of chocolate--like a dish in a restaurant--has to begin with--is it good? is it delicious? What's happening in your mouth, how is the flavor and complexity revealing itself over time as the bon bon melts, as it slides from your tongue to the back of your throat, as it lingers after you have swallowed. And then it proceeds from there. Others may disagree. But only then can you go on and assess if the "balance" of flavors work and if not, why?

I can't help but feel you're too inherently limited in this Cab, by not appreciating dark chocolate as a flavor or ingredient. I admire that you're open and honest about this. Visual balance is one thing--as I hope I've revealed, you can intuit about balance, you can dispassionately, clinically quantify factors and measure filling to covering, you can observe technical skill. But you can't really qualify, you can't "know" if you don't like the essential, complex and overwhelming ingredient--dark chocolate--which everything else has to be balanced against--nor can you detect or appreciate the subtle differences in that ingredient itself. As far as taste, I fear you're really at too much of a disadvantage in this respect.

[Steve Klc]

And Lesley, you have me piqued with the mention of Sadaharu AOKI--do make time to share more of your sense of the place. I googled it, found its nascent website here:

http://www.interq.or.jp/gold/sada/

with but a few pictures, including one very interesting millefuille-type construction--which might be of phyllo--sprinkled with pistachio--but might that powdered bright green "pistachio" actually be powdered green tea? That would be very cool and something I hadn't seen or thought of before--there are some matcha green tea mixes you can buy in the States that have sugar already in the mix, which instantly dissolve and are meant to simply be stirred into water for a sweetened green tea iced tea. I wonder if that's what he's using to "dust" this pastry?

Thanks to the wonder of the age we live in, and Google, I also found this site:

http://fine.tok2.com/home/takutaku/gateauxtop.html

which has a beautiful array of pictures from many of the patisseries mentioned on this thread, in case anyone is interested in poking around.

[cabrales]

With all respect to patissiers, I'm considering relinquishing the ordering of all desserts (unless they're part of a prix fixe menu) -- not just all chocolate desserts -- in France and elsewhere. If I didn't think that relinquishing dessert and cheese would not be well-received by restaurants, I would have done so on my last trip. In the US, I am going to begin experiments in this regard as part of my plans for 2003. I might order a digestif in place. Only an experiment.

[Lesley C]

Well, to make up for Cabrales' dessert boycott, I vow in 2003 to order two desserts in all top restaurants I frequent. I fact, I might consider JUST ordering dessert, thus starting a world-wide dessert-only trend. And I might just open up a chocolaterie specializing in mendiants made with plenty of dark chocolate and nuts!

So there Cab

[nightscotsman]

And Lesley, you have me piqued with the mention of Sadaharu AOKI--do make time to share more of your sense of the place.  I googled it, found its nascent website here:

http://www.interq.or.jp/gold/sada/

with but a few pictures, including one very interesting millefuille-type construction--which might be of phyllo--sprinkled with pistachio--but might that powdered bright green "pistachio" actually be powdered green tea?  That would be very cool and something I hadn't seen or thought of before--there are some matcha green tea mixes you can buy in the States that have sugar already in the mix, which instantly dissolve and are meant to simply be stirred into water for a sweetened green tea iced tea.  I wonder if that's what he's using to "dust" this pastry?

Thanks to the wonder of the age we live in, and Google, I also found this site:

http://fine.tok2.com/home/takutaku/gateauxtop.html

which has a beautiful array of pictures from many of the patisseries mentioned on this thread, in case anyone is interested in poking around.

Thanks for the links, Steve! Makes me wish I had continued my Japanese lessons, but I really appreciate finally seeing some photos of Hermes latest line.

I'm very intrigued by the cross pollination I see between the French and Japanese. It seems that the Japanese have very similar tastes - especially in chocolate - as the French and have a great appreciation for the refinement and sophistication of the French style. It's interesting to see several top French businesses have sometimes several shops in Japan when they may have only one, or no presence in the US. It used to seem that the Japanese were infatuated with Italians and Italian style, but I see that focus shifting to the French in the last few years.

I have to agree that while the Mulot system was a little awkward as a first time customer who didn't know how things worked, after visiting the shop at a busy time it made a lot of sense. I stayed at a hotel less than a block from Mulot back in May and hit the shop at least twice a day. Fabulous stuff - great macarons, clafoutis, charlottes, cannele - wish I could have had at least one of everything.

[Bux]

Lesley,

You're too late to start a trend. The all dessert restaurant is no longer an oddity. Espai Scure, in Barcelona, has the most publicity and may be thought of as the trend setter, but it probably isn't the first. Years ago I recall seeing an all dessert menu at Jardin de l'Opera in Toulouse. Jardin was a two star restaurant almost adjacent to the main theater/concert/opera house in the city. They offered what I believe was a five course dessert menu for after theater. For me that would be far preferable to sitting through the performance with a full stomach. A light snack before arriving at the theater is suggested (by me) as a preventive measure to keep your stomach from growling through the performance.

Cabby,

I don't know what to say about your proposal. In fact very many people skip dessert and few people have cheese in the US even if it's available. I am guilty myself, at times. When thinking of an analogy I realized I compare things that are incomplete to having a nice meal without dessert. I suppose I could say that having a fine meal without dessert is like having a fine meal without wine. Of course rules are meant to be broken and one can enjoy musical passages out of context, but the thought that the fine meal is incomplete will remain in my mind.

Steve,

Loufoud mentioned Aoki in her Epiphany Eve post. where she talks about a galette des rois "made with the almond paste and matcha green tea and sweetened red bean - matcha is the powdered Japanese green tea ceremony tea." She also recommended their black sesame macarons. This is my idea of a field trip, although I have to admit the one time we tried tasting every kouign aman in Douarnenez we overdosed on butter before we got halfway through.

I can't hardly disagree with anything you say about chocolate, if only because I am still at the point where I could take lessons from you. I can only agree with you about the appreciation for dark bitter chocolate. I think I managed to recalibrate my palate with the aid of a pound or so of Bernachon's palets d'or brought home from Lyon. At least one quarter the way through the box, with a limit of one or two at a time, the satisfaction was more intelectual than sensual. At some point the bon bons began to taste like candy. It's far easier to go back to Lindt milk chocolate which has an immediate appeal much like many cheap sweet fat products. This is not to denigrate Lindt bars which are excellent in their class.

Something's been on my mind since I was in Lyon however. After dinner at Le Bec's les Loges, we were given a box of chocolates. Actually Esilda was given the chocolates, I was given the bill. These chocolates were similar to Bernachon's in that there was a coating and a filling I take to be ganache. Bernachon's were palet shaped and these were smaller cubes. Le Bec's chocolates had a very thin shell. Berachone's palets had quite a thick wall enclosing the filling. They seemed more about being a chocolate than about being a bon bon. I assume it was intentional, but it went against what I expected. Both chocolates were exceptional.

[Louisa Chu]

Steve, Mulot's system is common in France. Even the no-name butcher where I go buy chicken wings does the same. But Mulot seems to handle it especially badly. So it's not that I'm not used to the system but usually there's some follow through on the other end - i.e. my chicken wing butcher where someone anticipates my return after the cashier and hands me a bag so I can just get on with my day.

I know that spending a day at a patisserie used to be an enjoyable way to indulge in a vacation but now that I live here like most Parisians going to the patisserie is just one of many stops in the day.

As for the Hevin chocolates, unlike Cabrales with whom I sampled the chocolates I absolutely adore bitter chocolate - bitter flavours in general for that matter as I think it's our most undervalued basic tastes. I found that the couverture was a bit too thick actually. And the assortment that was suggested to us - a preboxed assortment - as having the best overall representation had very little variety in taste and texture. I have not yet made chocolate so I cannot speak to this in more technical and ideal terms - but I will and very soon.

And yes, it's matcha tea on the Aoki pastries. A very interesting idea but unfortunately too subtle in these creations - you cannot taste it all, it just tastes like pastry cream. But yes, I loved the black sesame macaron as it offered an entirely different take - texture and taste - on the classic macaron which is made with ground almonds. Crave-worthy.

Chef Aoki by the way was the pastry chef at Millet in the 7th which was mentioned in another thread - and if I had more time I'd helpfully link it but I don't.

[Steve Klc]

Night--yes, the other great thing about the photos on that site is they are dated--unlike most on the web--so you can also get a sense of how current or representative they are--for instance, those were the first of Herme's "white" themed collection I had seen.

This might be racist and stereotypical--but the perception I've always maintained is that Japan found out what the best was and imported it. Designers, cooks, ingredients, handbags, whatever. In just about everything. And as far as the Japanese reaching out to the French--importing the French chefs, their cooking, etc.--perhaps you're detecting that they've re-focused of late because that happened a long time ago. Cross fertilization dates at least back to the "Nouvelle" era, minimalism and more Japanese aesthetics showed up in French food even before Japanese ingredients did. And in many cases--Japanese standards for French products are higher than the French--i.e. chocolate manufacturers are often asked to produce special, even more expensive lines of chocolate, hewn to even tougher more demanding standards, than the chocolate used by the finest European chocolatiers--specifically for the Japanese market.

Bux--thank you for that link to Loufood's post--now I can match up the Aoki "Macaron Sesame" to the "crave-worthy" picture here:

http://fine.tok2.com/home/takutaku/patisse...aronsesame.html

(Note: I'm too old to actually use a phrase like "crave-worthy" but thank you Loufood for your adept phrasing. I will be happy to repeat it, in quotes, and give you credit! We need more "crave-worthy" desserts and reports!)

And that taste test might be interesting, because in my experience the French and Japanese pastry chefs interpreting Japanese ingredients still retain that flat dullness, that extreme subtly of flavor inherent in things like red bean or sesame or green tea--no matter how "French" they try to make them. There is an inherent austerity, for lack of a better word, in those ingredients that I don't think one can, or should, overcome.

To appreciate their beauty, you have to recalibrate a little bit. If one applies Western or traditional French pastry standards to them you risk missing them entirely. Also, these kinds of things tend to work better when they play a harmonious role, following the flow of a cuisine which itself appreciates understatement, lack of richness and lack of intensity.

Loufood, when you speak of the Hevin preboxed assortment having "very little variety in taste and texture. I have not yet made chocolate so I cannot speak to this in more technical and ideal terms - but I will and very soon" I (personally) don't think you have to speak in technical/ideal terms. Speak viscerally, speak about how you perceive flavor and feel texture--and especially compare to others you've had in that class, i.e. Herme, like Cabrales did. Especially compare to Maison du Chocolat, which is more commercial, seems to use inferior chocolates and ingredients at least to my palate, BUT whose chocolates aim for the same traditional style of Hevin. For instance, do you feel the current Hevin line, as sampled, was enrobed more thickly than Maison?

One issue to consider--apart from our individual taste and subjectivity--is that the "traditional" French like their chocolate subtle, very subtly flavored. Meaning they want to taste chocolate--and only chocolate--revelling in the glory and intensity of chocolate--for like 3/4 to 7/8 of the way through the bon bon--and then search for the flavor, the hint, the wisp, of flavor near the tail end. For some, this is the supreme refinement, the supreme achievement of the chocolatier's art.

Agree or disagree, and we all certainly will, this is what some of the best chocolatiers aim for.

Also, apart from flavor intensity, traditional chocolatiers sometimes try to attain their perception of an "ideal" ganache--a repeatable smoothness and texture--that sets up just so--so each variety has it's own perfect percentage, to them, of cream to chocolate to trimolene (or other inverted sugar) to butter to fruit or infused flavor--that when combined have the right flavor and the right consistency representative of their style. This may or may not be what you're perceiving with Hevin--and to some would be considered a strength. Consistency across the line. Again, the most direct comparison would be to examine other lines within that style--the traditionalists--and compare.

Of course, stuff is increasingly in flux now--French chocolatiers are jazzing up their products, pushing flavor more forward in their recipes, becoming less subtle, all the time. In some respects to compete with the Spanish, Belgians like Marcolini, compete with French-style chocolatiers selling more agressive, more flavor-forward bon bons to the Americans. It is becoming harder to remain subtle in this media age.

One final note, I never buy pre-boxed chocolates. I always try to select my chocolates by the piece after looking them over. Even if I'm buying 65 pieces. I know Lou, I'm a tourist. Point well-taken.

And with regard to the chocolate hangover, just how many bon bons were consumed and in what time frame?