【Sunday Slow Moments】JEAN-PAUL HÉVIN CHOCOLATIER, crafting enchanting chocolate desserts

Written by TRAVELER Luxe

 

Shipped weekly from France to Taiwan, all chocolate desserts remain entirely true to their original form without any local adaptations, delivering the authentic creations of Jean-Paul Hévin—melting every customer's heart with rich, sweet cocoa aromas.

Missing an exam led Jean-Paul Hévin, who once aspired to be an engineer, to step into the world of patisserie and eventually become one of the world’s foremost chocolate masters.

 

Jean-Paul Hévin grew up with a father who loved sweets, though his mother wasn’t skilled at baking. To impress his father, he began experimenting with making sweet pies at the age of 13, which ultimately led him into the world of pastry. His focus on chocolate desserts stems from the ingredient’s endless possibilities for variation—exploring diverse ingredients to pair with chocolate has been a never-ending source of joy, and each unique combination brings out new and exciting flavor profiles.

Jean-Paul Hévin once served as head chef at Lucien Peltier’s Tokyo patisserie—the authority in French patisserie—for 18 months. His affinity for Japanese and even broader Eastern ingredients became a hallmark of his chocolate creations. Additionally, he replaced butter with cocoa butter and reduced sugar content, completely overturning the notion of chocolate being overly sweet, allowing each bite to showcase the deep, natural flavor of cocoa beans.

 

When you think of a chocolate specialty store, your mind likely conjures images of square-shaped chocolates—Bon Bons—wrapped in a thin shell with smooth, soft fillings inside, available in over twenty flavors. Macarons based on chocolate also highlight a crisp outer shell and a soft, sweet filling, with about twelve different flavors shipped to Taiwan each week. Other offerings include classic chocolate pralines, playful chocolate lollipops, chocolate toothpaste, and more—an overwhelming array of treats.

All products in-store are shipped weekly from France to Taiwan—from Bon Bons, macarons, and cakes, to the cocoa powder used for hot chocolate and the liquids for making mousse—all personally supervised and blended by Jean-Paul Hévin. Before and after opening the store, he also visited Taiwan multiple times to observe the market and provide guidance on how to prepare delicious hot chocolate.

 

To cater to Taiwanese preferences, Jean-Paul Hévin has created special dessert combinations. For example, the Ida set includes a raspberry-hazelnut-chestnut chocolate cake, French custard with chocolate chips, macarons, and a raspberry custard chocolate mousse. The soft chocolate cake has a delightful crunch from the nuts, while the mousse is an airy, melt-in-your-mouth foam—each element incredibly moreish.