POLLEN

Wonderful food, smooth service, calm space (with lovely plants!). Had a great time and loved the tasting menu with wine pairing. Would go again

A wonderful experience at Pollen. The food was approachable, despite such a fine dining atmosphere. Every dish was delicious and beautiful. I loved being able to see the head chef in the open kitchen create each masterpiece!

Lunch. No Bullshit – Just Class.

Avignon, June 16. 26 degrees, light wind rustling through the old stone streets. The Rhône moves like it’s got somewhere to be. My Family and I duck into Pollen for lunch – off the main drag, no flashing signs, no red carpets. Just a clean doorway and a quiet confidence.

Inside? Cool, calm, quietly elegant. No circus. No ego. Just a dining room that whispers: you’re in good hands.

We go carte blanche. That means: shut up and let them cook. Perfect.

First course: roasted beet in a salt crust, Berberis berries, a green herb foam, trout roe, radish, and some tiny tart that crumbles the second it touches your tongue. It’s fresh, focused, and dead serious. Nothing here is trying too hard.

Wine? Something white, smells great, just tart enough to snap you awake. Tastes like river stones and orchard windfall. Not your supermarket Sauvignon. Good.

Then: whipped butter with preserved lemon. Comes with warm bread. No theatre. You dip into it and it’s sunshine, citrus, and comfort all at once. You could eat it forever.

Next: a zucchini flower, filled with a delicate mousse, floating in a light mussel curry broth. That sounds like a train wreck in lesser hands. Here? It’s silk. Balanced. Beautiful. The kind of dish that says, these guys know what the hell they’re doing.

The lamb? Perfectly pink. Perfectly salted. Served with wild mushrooms, some weird but wonderful vegetable the waiter called “ornithogale” – looks like baby asparagus, tastes like spring. Deep, spicy jus. And the wine? A lean, earthy red with just enough bite to keep you honest.

Then: carrot mousse with tandoori spice. It’s weird. It’s cool. It works.

Dessert: apricot cream, white tea, some delicate crunchy pastry called an Arlette, and a sauce that zips through the sweetness like a blade.

Now let’s talk about the service.

The team here is young, sharp, and tuned in. Genuinely kind. Not fake-fine-dining-smile kind – real, human, attentive without hovering kind. They know what’s on the plate, what’s in the glass, and how to make you feel like you belong. Not because you dropped a few euros on lunch, but because you came to eat – and they respect that.

No pretense. No show. Just people who give a damn – about the food, about the wine, and about the experience you’re having.

Pollen doesn’t need a hype machine. It doesn’t need a dozen Instagram influencers pretending to be food critics. It just needs what it has: a chef who cooks with restraint, a team that cares, and a space that lets the food speak.

Pollen is tucked away off of a quiet street, and their location is perfect for the calm and serene space that they provide for their clientele. Achieving a modern yet minimalist approach to decor, you are welcomed to comfortable chairs while you enjoy your experience with several courses over a few well-paced hours.

We chose the 5-course menu, and really enjoyed the chef’s selections, without having to make any choices while moving through the experience. Our sommelier was warm and had selected the ideal pairings featuring French wines from various regions, not all Southern (which we appreciated having partaken in many from this region over our 5-day stay in Provence).

Above all, Pollen offers a quiet elegance in their dishes and ambience. Unpretentious in feeling, the food, wine and service all shine in their own ways. Each sauce was decadent and the portion of each dish just enough.

I loved observing the staff who were attentive as a team, and chef serving the fish and meat courses personally was an example of their team approach. I would not hesitate to visit again, and indeed wished we lived in country to do so. I hope they continue to thrive in this space until we can visit again. Superb!

Absolutely superb. I stopped here for lunch while visiting Avignon for the day.

Located on a quiet side street of Avignon, the space is cozy and deftly uses mirrors to suffuse the room with natural light. The overall warm yellow glow and wood exudes modern luxury. I appreciated the generous spacing between the round tables, that subtly affords you conversational privacy.

The service was relaxed and attentive. The sommelier had great wine suggestions. We enjoyed a great acidic Alsace white and a relatively local Provence rose.

Food was inventive, mixing French techniques with notable East Asian flavors. The sauces and saucier in particular are marvelous - I thought each sauce used acidity and herbal notes to create balance. Especially memorable was a lamb plat, infused with a rich jus infused with soy and mushroom notes that perfectly complemented the tender lamb.

The carte blanche lunch menu might nearly be the best value for quality I've ever experienced amongst hundreds of Michelin experiences. This establishment rightfully deserves their Michelin star and is absolutely worth a detour to visit.