The Quest for Chocolat Chaud in Paris (Part III- Jean-Paul Hévin)
“…son fameux chocolat chaud…” (”…his famous hot chocolate…”)
This line was taken directly from Jean-Paul Hévin’s website and thus immediately piqued my interest. Anyone gutsy enough to make such a claim deserved to be investigated immediately.
Situated a mere block away from Place Vendôme (and the tempting perfection of chocolat chaud at the Ritz Paris Hotel), the small storefront houses a chocolate and pastry shop on the ground floor, with a salon de thé on the second.
Dark wood-paneled walls and floors made an inviting setting, especially overlooking the narrow but always frenetic Rue Saint-Honoré below. In fact, the elevation was a nice change from typical Parisian cafes, where one can easily be distracted by what’s going on outside.
Jean-Paul Hévin was obviously popular with tourists- the menu of pastries included large color photos. The tarte tatin that I had heard raves about was unfortunately crossed off the menu, and it took two tries before I was able to find a pastry that they had available. However, the pastries that we tried were surprisingly good and overshadowed the hot chocolate.
But on to the purpose of the visit! Chocolat chaud was 6,30 Euro a serving, 6,80 Viennoise-style with whipped cream. Served piping hot in a little pitcher, we were a little puzzled when the server filled our cups only halfway and then walked away. Since it wasn’t served with a side of milk, and we didn’t order whipped cream, why only halfway? It was a mystery we couldn’t solve. She also asked if we wanted sugar, which we declined and later regretted.
Temperature and texture-wise, the hot chocolate was fine- steaming hot, thick enough to coat the mouth without being too thick to sip. Unfortunately, it was severely lacking in chocolate flavor. Yes, there was a great depth to it, almost coffee-like, yet my first reaction was that I couldn’t detect the chocolate. I hoped that I would taste the chocolate or some sweeter notes later on, but none came even though I let it linger on my palate. I was sorely tempted to track down our server to ask for sugar, something I usually never add to my chocolat chaud. In this case though, it needed another dimension to make it more interesting.
Overall, I liked the setting and the pastries much more than I did Hévin’s fameux drink. The quest for chocolat chaud in Paris continues. La Maison du Chocolat is next, and rumor has it, you can get their hot chocolate in take-away cups!
Jean-Paul Hévin, Salon de Thé
231, rue Saint-Honoré
75001 Paris
01 55 35 35 96
I would love to be joining you on a search for French hot chocolate. My own experience with chocolat chaud began with a recipe of Maida Heatter’s: cafe liegeoise. This turned out to be the World’s Best coffee ice cream, eaten straight out of the ice cream maker (Donvier at the time) before being frozen solid. It’s good frozen hard, but not as good as the softer just-made version.
My last visit to Paris was in 1991 *sigh* and when I saw cafe liegeoise on a menu, I had to try it. It was like the most elegant and gourmet version of a Wendy’s Frosty, not quite solid, not quite liquid, only coffee flavored, of course, and even better that what I had made at home.
A few days later I was at Angelina’s on the Rue de Rivoli and saw they had chocolate liegeoise on the menu. I had to try it and it was even better than the cafe version. Then I noticed a woman at the table next to me was drinking hot chocolate, and it looked fabulous, thick and rich and served with a pitcher of chocolate whipped cream. So I ordered that, too. I was in heaven.
Well, that was almost 15 years ago, but I’m pretty sure Angelina’s is still there, so if you haven’t tried theirs, I recommend it highly.
Oops! I just read further in your blog (today is the first day I’ve seen it) and saw that you have already been to Angelina’s and were disappointed. I went on a rainy afternoon, there was no line (of course, 15 years ago!) and had a very pleasant waitress. Also the chocolat chaud was indeed hot; the whipped cream was necessary to cool it.
Ah well…