Terrae

About Terrae

Most restaurants that use the word ‘sustainable’ use it as marketing. Terrae uses it as a constraint. David Rivas, the Venezuelan chef behind this small dining room on a side street near the sea in Port de Pollença, built the entire restaurant around a single non-negotiable rule: everything on the plate must come from Mallorca, and nothing must be wasted. There is no coffee. There is no pepper. There is no soy. The rule is the kitchen's compass and its handicap, and it is why Terrae earned the Michelin Green Star in 2025 — the island's newest and, by some distance, its most rigorous.

Rivas cooks around the grill. Fire is the recurring technique: sea bass blackened and bathed in its own pan juices, hogget roasted until the fat turns to lacquer, aubergine smoked until it tastes like another vegetable entirely. What he does not grill, he ferments, cures, pickles, or dries, and the pantry that results — full of trim, skins, scraps, and bones transformed into vinegars, garums, and oils — is what allows a zero-waste kitchen to also be a delicious one. The menu rotates weekly; the philosophy does not.

The restaurant itself is small and warm — low ceilings, open kitchen, a counter facing the grill that Rivas commands. A short Omakase tasting menu and a half-Omakase give him the most freedom, and the à la carte fills in for diners who prefer to choose. Wines lean into Balearic producers and Spanish naturals; the sommelier team's knowledge of small Mallorcan growers is the best on the north of the island. The staff talk about the provenance of every ingredient because, at Terrae, the provenance is the dish.

This is not an evening for the diner who wants unfussy luxury — there is rigour here, and the edges show. It is the right evening for the diner who understands that the future of Mediterranean fine dining sounds exactly like this. Compare the approach against Ca na Toneta, the island's other Green Star, and see the full Mallorca guide.

Rivas is one of the most interesting chefs on the island. Book the counter.

Best for Solo Dining

Terrae is built for a solo diner. Rivas's counter, which runs the length of the open kitchen in front of the grill, is the single best seat in the house — and the one he typically offers first to people dining alone. You watch every dish being finished. You speak to Rivas directly between courses. You taste things that do not make it onto the written menu because the chef reaches across the counter and passes them to you. None of this is performance; it is simply the structure of a small restaurant run by someone who likes eaters who are paying attention.

The Omakase tasting menu is the right order for a solo evening — long enough to settle into, short enough to finish at your own pace, and loose enough that the kitchen can adjust portions on the fly. Pair it with two or three glasses from the Balearic list rather than the full pairing. For other counter-and-chef tables on the island, see KATAGI Blau in Palma and the broader Solo Dining collection.