92. Big in Japan - Jacob Kear from Lurra in Kyoto, Japan

92. Big in Japan - Jacob Kear from Lurra in Kyoto, Japan

From World of Mouth podcast by Kenneth Nars

March 20, 2026 · 46 min

About this episode

Jacob Kear discusses his culinary journey and respect for Japanese traditions as the chef and owner of Lurra in Kyoto.

Jacob Kear is the chef and owner of Lurra in Kyoto, Japan. Born to a Japanese mother in California, he grew up both in Japan and the US. After completing culinary school in Pasadena, and working in hotel kitchens, he won a national competition on the Food Network that caught the attention of a restaurant in Korea where he became the executive chef at the age of twenty-four. He then trained in kitchens across Europe, Asia, and North America, among them Noma in Copenhagen. In 2019 he returned to Japan and founded Lurra in an old townhouse in Kyoto, where he blends technical precision with strict seasonality and craft. In this podcast, we will hear about Jacob Kear’s search of his place in the culinary world, and his deep respect of the Japanese culinary tradition. At the end of the podcast he will reveal his favourite restaurants in Kyoto and the rest of the world. The recommendations mentioned in this podcast and thousands more are available in the World of Mouth app:  https://www.worldofmouth.app/    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Kenneth Nars

Guest: Jacob Kear

Topics covered

  • culinary arts
  • Japanese cuisine
  • chef interviews
  • restaurant recommendations
  • cultural heritage

Keywords

  • culinary school
  • executive chef
  • seasonality
  • Noma
  • restaurant recommendations
  • Japanese culinary tradition

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Lurra, Food Network, World of Mouth

Places: Kyoto, Japan, California, Korea, Copenhagen

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