Da Terra

Excellent cooking

Secreted within a once-grand Edwardian town hall, this major-league dining establishment packs one hell of a punch. It’s a serious, smart-looking spot – both the bar and dining room have a fabulous character and patina into which mid-century furnishings and the stylish open kitchen slot sympathetically. Brazilian-born Rafael Cagali’s cooking has pursued an interesting trajectory – with stints at Quique Dacosta and Martín Berasategui in Spain, then the Fat Duck and Simon Rogan’s Fera and Aulis – and his background suggests a fondness for classic, ingredients-first techniques. This certainly shines through in exquisite snacks such as a tiny, friable pastry cup made with stout and filled with scallop roe, mousse and tiny diced scallop; in quail tortellini in a sparkling clear broth, alongside a skewer of quail breast with a slice of brioche topped with parfait, damson and a generous shaving of black truffle; and in wagyu sirloin with hen of the woods, lobster rice and cavolo nero. Yet it’s the weaving in of Brazilian-influences that really set Cagali’s cooking apart. Take moqueca. It’s a traditional fish stew fiendishly reinvented by Cagali as an elegant tasting-menu dish of aged brill (on our visit) with manteiguinha (butter) beans and farofa (toasted cassava) in a frothy coconut sauce, given heft with whole biquinho teardrop chillies (fiery and fruity) that are served on the side. Or the cross-cultural slant of a baba served with Brazilian cachaça, pistachio ice cream and a generous dollop of N25 Reserve caviar. All of this comes at a price – the tasting menu is £245, the set three-course lunch £110 ­– but it is without doubt an exceptional experience from start to finish. M uch depends on front of house, a first-class team who take the east London essence and manage to transform fine dining to something fun and classy at the same time. The wine list is brilliantly curated and correspondingly expensive, although it's worth mining the sommelier's impressive and charmingly imparted knowledge to get the best from it.

When Rafael Cagali took the fine dining space in east London’s Town Hall Hotel he had some big shoes to fill, the intimate dining space having previously been home firstly to Nuno Mendes’ Michelin-starred Viajante and then Lee Westcott’s also highly-acclaimed The Typing Room. The hotel has had links with high-end gastronomy since opening and there was a feeling that its owners were looking for even greater things with its next signing. The Brazilian chef has not disappointed. Having opened Da Terra in January 2019 the restaurant gained its first Michelin star just eight months later before going on to win its second in the 2021 guide. None of this should have been particularly surprising: Cagali’s CV includes times in the kitchens with Spanish chef luminaries Quique Dacosta and Martin Berasategui before working at The Fat Duck by Heston Blumenthal and then helping Simon Rogan open Fera at Claridges. Da Terra’s modern European menu combines the flavours of Cagali’s Brazilian and Italian roots with flair and humour (a figurine of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Rafael makes an appearance). Dishes on the two tasting menus (a 'short' seven course menu is served at lunch alongside a three-course set menu and a 'long' 10-course one) are perfunctorily described by their three main ingredients but deliver much more, including some surprising elements that you won't find anywhere else in the capital.