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It was a piece of luck: Jean-Paul Hévin was invited to spend 18 months in Tokyo and take control of Peltier, a famous French pastry store that had been established in Japan a few years beforehand. This great opportunity gave him the chance to establish useful initial contacts in this country, which would quickly become his main home base and his favorite territory. Being an esthete with good taste, the master pastry maker is blessed with a palate that never deceives him. He instinctively knows how to select the best ingredients, the finest wine, the best cigars, and-his top priority-the best ingredients for the production of chocolate. Since being awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France’s top craftsman) in 1986, this passionate craftsman has continuously invested thought and effort in his “flagship ingredient”-chocolate- so that he could turn it into that delicate, exceptional product that is displayed, much like a jewel, in his three Parisian stores. In 1988, he opened his first shop, called “Le Petit Boulé” at 16, avenue de la Motte-Picquet, Paris (7th arrondissement). In 1990, his second store opened its doors at 3, rue Vavin, Paris (6th arrondissement). In 1997, he opened a third establishment fully dedicated to chocolate and its many forms and varieties at 231, rue Saint-Honoré, Paris (1st arrondissement), complete with a tearoom…complete with chocolate… on the second floor. In June 2002, further expansion brought the store into a new world: “Le Petit Boulé” moved to 23 bis, avenue de la Motte-Picquet, Paris (7th arrondissement). Jean-Paul Hévin products are now being exported to Japan. The label is now found in new locations specializing in good taste and delicious flavors in Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Kokura, where bars and cellars devoted entirely to chocolate have been opened: a truly great première! "Photo : Quentin Bertoux" |
A pastry chef by the time he was 24 years old, Jean-Paul Hévin started out at the Hôtel Intercontinental and then worked at the Hôtel Nikko from 1976 until 1988, where he spent seven creative, discovery-filled years pursuing his craft alongside Joël Robuchon.