The Relisher is where the world’s top chefs reveal their favorite restaurants in their hometowns. This week, I met with Jacob Kear, the chef and owner of Michelin-starred LURRA° in Kyoto, Japan.
The Japanese-American chef worked in the world’s leading kitchens, including NOMA in Copenhagen—the world’s top-rated restaurant at the time—and several Michelin-starred restaurants in Tokyo. In 2019, he opened his dream restaurant, LURRA°, and by 2020, Chef Kear earned his first Michelin star.
This is our number-one most-read interview and one of my top three favorite interviews of all time. Below, the award-winning chef shares:
The restaurants you cannot miss in Kyoto and Osaka
Where to experience the best tea and traditional Japanese sweets in Kyoto
Must-try Osaka street foods and the best places to eat them
Cocktail bars you cannot find anywhere else except Kyoto and Osaka
Experiences you can only have in Kyoto and Osaka
And so much more…
(A Google Map with all locations listed is provided at the end of the interview.)
Must-Visit Restaurants in Kyoto
I always like to begin with some background on Kyoto because it helps explain the city’s food culture and why I recommend specific places.
Many are surprised to learn that, as an inland city, Kyoto doesn’t have the same abundance of great sushi restaurants as Tokyo or Osaka. Historically, the lack of access to fresh fish led Kyoto to become famous for preserved foods, like pickles and preserved fish, which remain iconic to this day.
Kyoto is considered the capital of Japanese cuisine, known for kaiseki, a traditional multi-course meal, and kappo, its more casual variation. The city’s many shrines and temples also inspired shojin ryori, or monk food, a vegan cuisine deeply rooted in Buddhist philosophy.
When people ask for restaurant recommendations in Kyoto, I always suggest the must-visit spots below, which are also my personal favorites.