Back in 1866, a family business was established in Cavaillon, France, selling Cavaillon melons at the entrance to the city. These melons are spherical and slightly smaller than the standard cantaloupe. The exterior has a pale gold skin with bluish-green vertical striping running from end to end and orange inner flesh with an intense floral yet tropical aroma and a very high sugar content. Available from mid-summer to fall, the fruit comes from Cavaillon and is a much-celebrated local product with special designation status. It can only be called a Cavaillon Melon if it is grown in Provence or in a part of the Durance valley and must be grown by farmers that belong to the product’s official association. Beloved of its hometown, statues, paintings, annual festivals, and a 9-ton melon sculpture at the entryway to the town all mark what it means to locals.
This beloved local melon can also be thanked for birthing the town’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Maison Prévôt. This restaurant, which goes completely melon-themed for five months of the year, owes its origins to a trip to Paris in 1977, when Jean-Jacques Prévôt, chef and founder of Maison Prévôt broke down in the south of France, just outside Cavaillon.
This beloved local melon can also be thanked for birthing the town’s only Michelin-starred restaurant, Maison Prévôt. This restaurant, which goes completely melon-themed for five months of the year, owes its origins to a trip to Paris in 1977, when Jean-Jacques Prévôt, chef and founder of Maison Prévôt broke down in the south of France, just outside Cavaillon.
Upon phoning his mother to explain what had happened, the matriarch replied that he should pick up some melons. Prévôt went to buy said melons at the ancient melon stand mentioned at the start of this article and ended up marrying the young woman, Sylviane, who was working there. After their union, the couple converted the melon counter into a restaurant in 1981. Since 2008, it has been run by their daughter, Sandra and, in 2018, it earned its first Michelin star.
Decorated with melon-themed items – sculptures, napkin rings, pitchers, cutlery, and more – the restaurant is a love letter to the fruit that the town celebrates and which brought this family together. If you’re a fellow melon fan and you have found a vacation rental in Cavaillon, then it is a must all year around but particularly during the melon season. Come try the melon smoothie with mead, melon lobster casserole, douceur au chocolat with mint and melon, melon soup, melon ketchup, and much more besides…
Maison Prévôt
353 Avenue de Verdun - 84300 Cavaillon
+33 4 90 71 32 43
Decorated with melon-themed items – sculptures, napkin rings, pitchers, cutlery, and more – the restaurant is a love letter to the fruit that the town celebrates and which brought this family together. If you’re a fellow melon fan and you have found a vacation rental in Cavaillon, then it is a must all year around but particularly during the melon season. Come try the melon smoothie with mead, melon lobster casserole, douceur au chocolat with mint and melon, melon soup, melon ketchup, and much more besides…
Maison Prévôt
353 Avenue de Verdun - 84300 Cavaillon
+33 4 90 71 32 43
