2 Michelin Star Chefs: Rafael Cagali, Da Terra
Rafael Cagali is the executive chef and co-owner of Da Terra in bethnal Green, London.
Opened in January 2019, the restaurant is the brainchild of The Fat Duck graduate Rafael Cagali located on the site of Lee Westcott's former establishment, The Typing Room.
Da Terra
Town Hall Hotel,
8 Patriot Square, London E2 9NF
Telephone: 020 7062 2052
Website: https://daterra.co.uk/
Reservations: bookatable.co.uk
Sunday Closed
Monday Closed
Tuesday Closed
Wednesday 6–9:30pm
Thursday 6–9:30pm
Friday 12–2pm, 6–9:30pm
Saturday 12–2pm, 6–9:30pm
Career path to date
Chef Rafael Cagali was born in São Paulo, Brazil, though he is of Italian descent.
He moved to London to work in kitchens aged 21, followed by a 3-year bout working with Stefano Baiocco at A Villa Feltrinelli.
The young chef then moved to Spain to work for Quique Dacosta and Martin Berasategui before joining the team at The Fat Duck. The chef helped open Fera at Claridges and took on the role of head chef at eight-seater development kitchen, Aulis, under Umbel restaurant group owner and acclaimed chef, Simon Rogan.
The chef opened Da Terra Restaurant in 2019 in partnership with Paulo Airuadi, who he met at The Fat Duck, and the restaurant gained its first Michelin star that same year.
Following a very eventful 2020, it was awarded a second Michelin star.
Da Terra
Meaning 'From the ground' in Italian, Da Terra is set in the Victorian Town Hall Hotel in Bethnal Green, East London. The entrance gives onto a restaurant of white-tableclothed round tables set on herringbone parquet.
Da Terra's fine dining concept places food and flavour at centre-stage; serving South American inspired dishes with an Italian heart, true to Rafael's roots. Guests aren't given menus, and are only given a choice between a 7 or a 10-course tasting menu, with the intention of guiding them through a journey drawing on the chef's origins and experience.
The food at Da Terra is served with a wine (and beer, and spirits) flight, and consists of dishes such as short rib, artichoke, shimeji, chard and banana farofa, or Zacapa Rum ice cream, caviar and avocado (served with champagne, in a match described by The Telegraph food critic Hilary Armstrong as "a thoughtful, purist study in fat").
The Michelin Guide singles out the three following dishes as Rafael's specialities: Isle of Mull scallops, Granny Smith and fennel; New Forest pork with black beans and cassava farofa and Romeo & Juliet, the chef's take on sweet Guava and cheese.
Other Michelin Star Chefs
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