Its been sixteen years since Ive seen my friend Bessies cousin, Bessie, but I had the chance to catch up with her this weekend at Jean-Paul Hevin's salon de th.We were modest and French enough with our mealsquiche for Bessie, salad for me, wine for us both. Less so with dessert. Its a chocolatier, after allmy 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 of the cakes on itlike something youd see at a carnival. But they were admittedly helpful in narrowing down the selection. From the 30+ varieties of cakesmost of them chocolate-basedBes chose the Choco Passion, and I went classic with a Chocolat Framboise.My chocolate-raspberry cake was gorgeous. Layers of fluffy chocolate mousse and dense chocolate cake rested atop a cacao biscuit and beneath a layer of raspberry preserves. But for all its beauty, it lacked that famous je ne sais quoi. It had nothing on Bessies Choco Passion. The Choco Passion was rich and complex, nutty and fruity. A flakey praline base and dark chocolate ganache made for a thick, savory base that was offset with chocolate mousse whipped with tart passionfruit. It had so much depth and was so irresistible, I just wanted to keep sneaking bites of Bessies cake. But I figured that wasnt very French of me.231, rue Saint-Honor1eme