Restaurant “LURRA˚” was opened in a renovated Kyo-machiya townhouse with over 150 years of history in Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto City in 2019. While well preserving the unique character of Kyo-machiya on its exterior, there is a completely different type of space inside. Takumi Miyashita, General Manager of LURRA˚ and Jacob Kear, Chef told us how they came to utilize the townhouse and their thoughts on the project.
Profile of the Kyo-machiya
A tsushi-nikai*Kyo-machiya townhouse, located a minute walk from Higashiyama Station on the Kyoto City Subway Tozai Line. It had been vacant for about three years and deteriorating, but it was brought back to life after Miyashita and Kear encountered the house. Currently, the house is used as a restaurant “LURRA˚.”
*Ceilings on the second floor are lower than usual. The style was commonly used until the late Meiji era.
MIYASHITA Takumi
General Manager, LURRA゜. Born in Tokyo and trained at Michel BRAS, France. After returning to Japan, he switched his specialty to service and worked as a sommelier at restaurants in Tokyo and Osaka. He moved to Australia to gain experience at “Vue de monde,” Melbourne and contributed as head sommelier at “Clooney,” New Zealand for the restaurant to receiving three hats.
KEAR Jacob
Born in California, USA. After gaining experience in Los Angeles and Tokyo, he trained at “noma” in Denmark and accompanied “noma Tokyo.” While he served as head chef at “Clooney” in New Zealand, the restaurant received three hats of the New Zealand Cuisine Good Awards.
Encounter with an over 150-year-old Kyo-machiya townhouse
The meeting of Miyashita and Kear both in training at a restaurant in New Zealand is the beginning of LURRA゜, which opened as a joint venture of three persons, including Yusuke Sakabe, mixologist.
When Kear worked at a restaurant in Tokyo, he visited Kyoto and fell in love with the city, finding its completely different atmosphere from Tokyo. Later, when the idea of opening a new restaurant in Kyoto came up, he started looking for a Kyo-machiya, for he just thought it would be nice to find a “very Kyoto” place for the restaurant.
“We heard that it is difficult to find a good property in Kyoto without any luck or connections, but we were able to find one rather quickly,” says Kear.
In February 2018, one of their acquaintances asked him to come and see an interesting property, and it was an over 150-year-old Kyo-machiya, which is the place where LURRA゜ is currently located.
Kear says, “When I first went to see the property, I was inspired that this house must be the place. Although Miyashita did not see it with me at that time for he was in Tokyo, I had the feeling this is the only place for our restaurant.”
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Reasons for Their Choice
What made Miyashita and Kear, who had been trained at world-famous restaurants, decide to open a restaurant in a Kyo-machiya townhouse?
“I love history, and I found Kyo-machiya attractive. So, when we planned to open a restaurant in Kyoto, there was no reason for me not to choose Kyo-machiya for our restaurant, hoping to preserve one of Kyo-machiya townhouses. Even if it is a little inconvenient to live in, there is another approach as a workplace,” says Kear.
Miyashita adds, “When I consider doing some business in Kyoto, I had a strong desire to do it in a Kyo-machiya. I believe the atmosphere of Kyo-machiya is equal to the images of Kyoto internationally and those related to the townhouse create the culture of the town. For this reason, I had it in my mind from the beginning to renovate a Kyo-machiya for our business.”
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Renovation Points
While preserving the elements and atmosphere of Kyo-machiya on the exterior, LURRA˚ has a completely different western-style interior having a kitchen with a large wood-fired oven and a L-shaped counter around it. Still, the restaurant can offer a cozy atmosphere unique to Kyo-machiya. Restaurants utilizing Kyo-machiya and old houses are common, but LURRA˚ is conscious of clearly dividing space inside and outside, leaving mud walls and existing beams, and integrating the good of the Japanese traditional architecture and the new.
As they wished to recreate the condition of old days when there was no gas supply in the house, they consciously chose not to install the gas line in the property.
“I wanted to cook in a more primitive way. Not only in Japan but also in Rome and Copenhagen, old buildings are more attractive and valuable than modern buildings. With only one nice vintage beam, the house has a different quality from modern buildings,” says Kear.
Miyashita also says, “Wooden buildings would decay more than we imagine when they become over a hundred years old. So, the renovation costs were much higher than we expected, but after all, I am very happy with our Kyo-machiya. Its main attraction is its explicit expression of ‘Kyoto-ness.’ Despite the limited space, Kyo-machiya has an advantage in its size; when a counter is installed, it makes easy to create just a right distance between the chef, kitchen staff and customers. ”
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Reactions from Customers
“90% of our customers are from abroad. Many of them have a vivid image of Kyoto in Kyo-machiya and they are surprised to step inside finding it quite different from what they have imagined from the outside. They are happy to see the gap, and we are also happy to have preserved the exterior unique to Kyoto in the community and the town. I think those who wish to work in Kyoto are attracted to the city and want to do something to make Kyoto better, so I am proud of myself doing our business utilizing a Kyo-machiya townhouse,” says Miyashita.
They say they are often told “I want to live in a house like this.”
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Thoughts on the Declining Number of Kyo-machiya Townhouses
“The city cease to be Kyoto without Kyo-machiya.” Kear sees it critical that Kyo-machiya townhouses are demolished and their number is decreasing every year. Miyashita is also concerned about the crisis and says, “We hear the number of Kyo-machiya is in decline in the news. It is likely that the city may lose its uniqueness if Kyo-machiya disappears from the city, and we are conscious about it.”
“Around here, there are Kyo-machiya townhouses which are designated by the city for preservation. Because many of the locals are elderly in this area, the townhouses may be vacant in the future. We do not know how they will be used, but we hope that they will be turned into something positive instead of being demolished into parking lots. We also hope that we can offer activities to bring people in the area utilizing Kyo-machiya.”
Miyashita is preparing a new project to be launched near LURRA˚, using another Kyo-machiya townhouse. He plans to turn it into a complex of a Kiyomizu-yaki pottery atelier, a restaurant that open all day long, and a shared office.
“I should do what I can do where I am. It does not only mean what I can do in a specific area but what I can do with the environment; speaking of my project which I am currently preparing, I will invite a pottery atelier to the townhouse. In my case, I believe it is important to work together with traditional crafts and traditional industries which are linked to Kyoto. When I think about the area, dispersion of a variety of shops for daily use and creation of scheme to encourage people to drop in the shops will create a circulation in the area. I personally believe that it will help the town become more energetic.”
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Possible Utilization of Kyo-machiya
Not only limited to an original use as residence, Kyo-machiya is used in a variety of ways depending on the needs. Miyashita and Kear chose to utilize it as a restaurant, but they say that a bookshop, a cafe, or a coffee shop may suit the atmosphere of the townhouse and they hope such shops would be opened in the town to activate the flow of people.
“For both Japanese and non-Japanese, Kyo-machiya is distinctive and instagrammable. I think it is a perfect place to run a restaurant. However, it costs a certain amount of money for renovating a Kyo-machiya, I think businesses that can make good profits should take over the townhouses to preserve them for future generations.
– With Kyo-machiya, two young people are looking ahead. We shall expect their new challenges.
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