The story
Pollen is a bistro serving modern cuisine at 18 rue Joseph-Vernet in Avignon, awarded one Michelin Star in 2026 for high quality cooking.
Chef Mathieu Desmarest buys from local producers, and the menu changes every week with the season. Le Fooding, which listed Pollen in 2026, noted his motto of flattering local ingredients and the chic wooden décor from the remodel done during lockdown.
On a Le Fooding lunch visit, the plates included an egg over milkcap mushrooms and bacon, then beef and carrot tataki in oxtail broth. A poached pear with hay ice cream and chocolate sauce closed the meal. Menus are carte blanche, starting at 60€ at lunch, and the kitchen adapts to dietary needs.
Recognition
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High quality cooking
At his new plaything that was given a remodel (with chic wooden décor) during France’s national lockdown, Mathieu Desmarest sticks to his motto: flatter local ingredients! The confident thirty-something tells tales of his native Provence on the plates, which are as energetic as a gust of the Mistral wind blowing through southern France. The day we went for lunch, we had an autumnal-wintery egg over a bed of milkcap mushrooms and bacon; a lovely beef and carrot tataki in an oxtail broth; and poached pear and hay ice cream draped in chocolate sauce, for a very tender finale to the meal. // Noël Flantier
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