Sweet Freak's Blog Posts Tagged 'Paris' (10)

Jean-Paul Hévin, Patrick Roger, Un Dimanche à Paris… I was certainly getting around to my favorite chocolatiers during my last weeks in Paris. But in the very last few days, I made visits to two brand new chocolatiers: Chloe Chocolat and Franck Kestener.

 

My own copy of Chloé Doutre-Roussel’s bible, The Chocolate Connoisseur (2005), is a tattered, stained mess from all the bonbons I consumed while reading about…

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This weekend is the Salon du Chocolat in Paris.



My advice is to go with a big appetite, big pockets and a big checkbook. There is lots of sampling and plenty of temptation.



There’s hot chocolate and chocolate spreads.…

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Before I moved to Paris, I had only a vague understanding of the city’s layout and, more important, its sweet spots. Now I can feel (and taste) my way around. And whenever I have to do an errand in the first arrondisement, I prepare myself for lusting after things I can’t afford on rue St-Honoré, but taking solace in the fact that I can at least splurge on <span style="font-style:italic;">something</span> sumptuous: chocolate—in solid or liquid form—at one of city’s, nay country’s,… Continue

In honor of the Salon de Chocolat (which I didn’t go to this year) this month’s walking tour takes you to some of Saint-Germain’s best chocolatiers. After all, you can toss an M&M in any direction in the sixth arrondisement and hit a world-class chocolatier—especially now that Patrick Roger has opened two new boutiques there.



Start at one of them, 91 rue de Rennes, and see what magical window displays the creative chocolate genius has whipped up. After admiring the fantasies and… Continue

Founded in 1800, Debauve & Gallais is the oldest chocolatier in Paris.





Sulpice Debauve, a pharmacist by training, opened the boutique after the Revolution and gradually built a reputation across the continent for exquisite chocolates. By 1818, he was appointed King Louis XVIII’s chocolate supplier, and then… Continue

I’ve always loved Patrick Roger’s chocolates and his chocolate sculptures. But with the window display at his new Faubourg Saint-Honoré boutique, my appreciation is going to new heights (hardy har har).…



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Denise Acabo. The name doesn’t mean much to 99.9% of the world’s population, but those who do know it are fanatical about the woman, her Parisian chocolate parlor and her devotion to France’s best chocolatiers and candy makers.







With a daily uniform of long blonde braids, a tartan plaid skirt, and the sexy-schoolmarmish blend of bifocals and Chanel No 5 that… Continue

It’s been sixteen years since I’ve seen my friend Bessie’s cousin, Bessie, but I had the chance to catch up with her this weekend at Jean-Paul Hevin's salon de thé.



We were modest and French enough with our meals—quiche for Bessie, salad for me, wine for us both. Less so with dessert. It’s a chocolatier, after all—my favorite one at that. We had to have chocolate cake.



For all its poshness, the salon has these weird oversized, laminated menus with pictures and descriptions… Continue

Last year I was excited for Peeps from Bethlehem. This year, I’m enjoying the over-the-top molded chocolates in Paris.



To be clear: I’m not sampling every chocolate bunny or chick—I have to show some restraint. Besides, seeing the elaborate window displays around town is almost as satisfying as tasting the edibles within.



Michel Cluizel has chocolate eggs by the… Continue

To the French, April 1 is “Poisson d’Avril.” The idea is generally the same as April Fool’s—to play practical jokes on others—but they do so by attaching fish to unsuspecting others’ backs (á la a “kick me” sign).



But what really interests me about the French interpretation of the “holiday” are the chocolates everyone gets to celebrate. You can find dime store bags of molded fish, clams, seahorses and the like—either in milk, dark or white chocolate. But the top-notch chocolatiers… Continue