After reading David Lebovitz's post on the 1-meter long box of chocolates from Patrick Roger, my mind became fixated on it. I had to see it for myself. When I finally found myself standing in front of his shop on boulevard St-Germain in the Latin Quarter, there it was in the front window: larger than life and surrounded by three large chocolate penguins (obviously).
The other larger than life shock was the price: 190 Euros! Besides that being my food budget for the week, the idea of carrying a meter-long box onto a plane was not appealing. I had to suffice with a small box of ganache and lime bouchées instead (well, and a generous sampling of his Brazilian lime-caramel-chocolate gems- delicious!).
But Roger isn't the only chocolatier in Paris selling mass quantities of decadent goodies. I spied a new Jean-Paul Hévin location across the street from the food end of Rue Cler in the 7th and immediately made a beeline for it.
Instead of a long box of chocolates, Hévin chose a much squarer approach. Behold the Cave à Chocolat:
Alas, this still did not fall in my chocolate budget (97 Euros), so I settled for a little selection of honey chocolates, litchi chocolates, and a few other things. Surprisingly, his flavors are very subtle and do not have the intensity of Roger chocolates. The subtlety isn't a negative thing however- it showcases the high quality of the chocolate itself. We even saw his new line of cheese covered chocolates. I'm surprised it took the French this long to combine the two, although in retrospect, their penchant towards keeping tradition, especially in food, might have held them back for awhile.
Anyway, we rounded up our chocolate experiences with many chocolate chauds in cafés, a couple of bars of supermarket chocolate (Lindt is making a fabulous new dark chocolate with lime filling bar), and getting in as many pain au chocolats as possible. Ah Paris, such a sweet life!
Patrick Roger
108 blvd St-Germain
75006 Paris, France
01 43 29 38 42
Métro: Odéon
45 ave Victor Hugo
75016 Paris, France
01 45 01 66 71
Métro: Kléber
Jean-Paul Hévin
4 locations in Paris
Bon Appétit!
mmmmm.....so jealous of you. death by chocolate, what a way to go!!!
Posted by: mich | January 19, 2007 at 10:57 AM
You didn't buy the meter of chocolate? Silly girl! She told me they sold about 20 of them per day around the holidays. Don't know if they plan to continue them, but you should start saving now for your next trip!
Posted by: David | January 21, 2007 at 06:11 AM
Cheese covered chocolate? That certainly appeals to the Wisconsin palate. I will check it out. BTW, Wisconsin have been combining cheese and chocolate for decades.
Posted by: mimi | January 25, 2007 at 02:51 AM
mich: I agree!
David: it will definitely be on my list for next time...not unless you want to send me one!
mimi: hmmm...I will have to check that out the next time I am in Wisconsin
Posted by: Chez Christine | February 18, 2007 at 08:05 AM