Restaurant in Nara, Japan
Two Michelin stars. Book well ahead.
LA TRACE earns back-to-back Michelin stars (2024 and 2025) in a city not known for French dining, and the case for booking is straightforward. Chef Roberto Torre applies French technique to local Nara produce, producing a tasting-format experience at ¥¥¥ that sits at the top of the Nara market. Book well in advance — hard to get, genuinely worth the effort for serious diners.
French cuisine from a foreign chef in a city better known for deer parks and ancient temples sounds like a gamble. At LA TRACE, it pays off. Roberto Torre's two consecutive Michelin stars (2024 and 2025) confirm what a 4.6 Google rating across 60 covers already suggested: this is a serious kitchen operating at a level that justifies a detour from Kyoto or Osaka. If you are in the Kansai region and French is your format, book here before you book anywhere else in Nara.
LA TRACE sits in the Omiyacho neighbourhood of central Nara, close enough to the historic core that you can walk the deer parks before dinner. The room's atmosphere runs quiet and composed — this is not a venue where the energy of the crowd carries the experience. The ambient register is low and deliberate: a place designed for conversation and attention, not spectacle. If you want a charged, buzzy room, go elsewhere. If you want to eat carefully and hear your companion speak, this setting rewards you.
The kitchen produces French cooking under chef Roberto Torre, and the through-line that makes LA TRACE coherent rather than merely ambitious is how seriously it treats its sourcing. France-trained technique applied to Japanese ingredients is a formula that can read as gimmick or as genuine dialogue between two culinary traditions. At its leading, as the back-to-back Michelin recognition implies, LA TRACE is closer to the latter. Nara Prefecture grows some of Japan's most respected vegetables , Yamato yasai, the traditional vegetables of the Yamato region, are cultivated here and largely absent from menus outside the prefecture. When a French kitchen roots itself in that local supply chain, the menu earns a coherence that imported luxury ingredients alone cannot buy. This is the editorial angle worth understanding before you sit down: the price you pay is partly for produce you will not find prepared this way anywhere else in the region.
That sourcing philosophy also anchors what returning guests should look for. If you have eaten here before and want to understand what to prioritise on a second visit, pay attention to how the menu has shifted with the season. A kitchen this committed to local supply will move materially with the calendar. The current season in Japan brings different produce to the table than a summer or autumn visit would, and at this price tier, that specificity is the point. Ask the kitchen or front-of-house which ingredients are at peak right now , a kitchen running at Michelin level will have an answer.
The ¥¥¥ pricing puts LA TRACE in the top tier of Nara dining, comparable to Wa Yamamura and akordu. For context on what this price tier delivers regionally, HAJIME in Osaka sits in the same conversation for French-influenced modern cooking, but it operates at a different scale and booking difficulty. Gion Sasaki in Kyoto offers a comparable commitment to seasonal Japanese sourcing in a Japanese format. LA TRACE occupies a specific position: French execution with a Nara provenance, and that combination is rare enough to make the trip worth it.
For broader context on the French dining category in Nara, other options worth knowing include La Terrasse irisée, à plus, A VOTRE SANTE, Bon appétit Meshiagare, and FAON , all operating in the French register in the same city. None carries the same back-to-back Michelin recognition as LA TRACE. For comparable French discipline at the leading end internationally, Les Amis in Singapore and Hotel de Ville Crissier in Crissier set the global benchmark.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. Two consecutive Michelin stars in a small city with a modest number of covers means seats are competitive. Do not arrive expecting a walk-in to work. Book as far ahead as possible , for high-demand dates, several weeks' lead time is a reasonable baseline. If you are building an itinerary around this meal, confirm the reservation before you book transport or accommodation. Nara is well-connected to Kyoto (roughly 45 minutes by train) and Osaka (under an hour), which makes LA TRACE a viable dinner destination without needing to stay overnight , but only if the booking is locked in first.
Book as early as possible , at minimum several weeks out for standard dates, longer for weekends or holidays. Back-to-back Michelin stars in a small-format Nara restaurant means demand consistently outpaces supply. If this meal is the centrepiece of a Japan itinerary, lock the reservation first and plan transport around it. Walking in without a booking is not a strategy that will work here.
LA TRACE is a formal French restaurant earning Michelin recognition two years running , expect a structured, course-based format rather than à la carte flexibility. The price tier is ¥¥¥, so build your budget around a full tasting experience. The atmosphere is calm and considered, not lively, and the kitchen's identity is rooted in sourcing local Nara produce through a French lens. Go in knowing that you are paying for precision and provenance, not for a buzzy dining spectacle.
Yes, if French tasting-menu format is a format you value. Two consecutive Michelin stars and a 4.6 Google rating across 60 reviews are consistent signals for a kitchen at this level in this city. The ¥¥¥ tier is the leading of the Nara market, but it buys you something you cannot replicate at a lower price point: French technique applied to local Yamato-region produce, with the discipline that Michelin recognition implies. If you are comparing against kaiseki at the same price, the choice comes down to format preference, not value , both deliver at this tier in Nara.
Specific dishes are not published in available data, so prescribing a single dish is not something Pearl can do responsibly here. What we can say: at a Michelin-starred French kitchen with a sourcing-led identity, ask the front-of-house which current-season local ingredients are driving the menu. The kitchen's commitment to Nara produce means the leading things on the menu are likely anchored to what is in peak condition right now. Trust the tasting format over à la carte if both are offered.
Likely yes. A small, quiet French restaurant in this format , intimate, composed, Michelin-starred , is typically well-suited to solo diners, especially if counter or bar seating is available. The atmosphere runs low-key rather than loud, so eating alone without feeling conspicuous is entirely feasible. For solo fine dining in Japan more broadly, this style of intimate French kitchen is generally a more comfortable solo format than large-group kaiseki settings.
No booking policy or dietary information is published in available data. For a kitchen at this level, advance communication of any dietary requirement is standard practice , contact the restaurant directly before your reservation date. French tasting-menu kitchens that operate at Michelin level generally have the technical range to accommodate restrictions with enough notice, but assumptions should not be made without confirmation.
At the same ¥¥¥ tier in Nara, your main alternatives are Wa Yamamura for kaiseki, akordu for innovative Spanish, Araki for sushi, and Tama for Okinawan-French. If the French format specifically matters to you, La Terrasse irisée and FAON are the closest alternatives within the city, though neither carries LA TRACE's Michelin standing. For Michelin-starred French cooking in the wider region, HAJIME in Osaka is the natural next reference point.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| LA TRACE | ¥¥¥ | Hard | — |
| akordu | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Wa Yamamura | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Araki | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| Tama | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
| NARA NIKON | ¥¥¥ | Unknown | — |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
check the venue's official channels before booking to discuss requirements. As a Michelin-starred French kitchen running a set format, LA TRACE almost certainly accommodates serious dietary needs with advance notice — but last-minute requests at this level of cooking rarely go well. Confirm specifics when you reserve.
LA TRACE runs a French tasting format, so the menu is chosen for you. At the ¥¥¥ price point with back-to-back Michelin stars in 2024 and 2025, the kitchen is building a composed progression rather than an à la carte list. Trust the format, and flag preferences at booking rather than at the table.
Solo diners do well at Michelin-starred French restaurants in Japan — counter seats are common in this format, and the service culture is attentive without being intrusive. LA TRACE's small cover count means solo seats are limited, so specify when booking and expect to confirm early.
Wa Yamamura is the clearest Nara alternative if you want Japanese-rooted fine dining rather than French. For a lower price point in the city, Tama is worth considering. If you are willing to travel slightly, Akordu offers a different European approach to seasonal Japanese produce.
At ¥¥¥ with two consecutive Michelin stars, LA TRACE is priced where you would expect it to be — and the back-to-back recognition in 2024 and 2025 suggests the kitchen is consistent, not just lucky. For French tasting-menu dining in Nara specifically, there is no stronger credentialled alternative in the city.
This is French tasting-menu dining in a historic Japanese city, led by chef Roberto Torre. Come with time — do not schedule anything immediately after. The Omiyacho address puts you close to Nara's central temples and deer parks, so building the dinner into a full day in the city makes sense.
Book at least four to six weeks out, and further ahead if you are visiting on a weekend or during a peak season such as cherry blossom or autumn foliage. Two Michelin stars in a small city with limited covers is a competitive combination. Do not treat this as a walk-in option.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
