The menu at Da Terra, which is only handed to you at the end of the meal, merely tells a fraction of the story of the profoundly complex dishes that actually hit your table. In fact, so elaborate are some of the courses that you have the deep sense that even the story you are told as each one is presented to you does not completely capture the intricacy of the sourcing, composing and sheer toil involved in bringing the dish to fruition.
Take, for example, the first of four bites that arrives before the meal proper even begins, which is described in the menu in two words: “duck caesar”. What emerges is in fact the kitchen’s take on a caesar salad, a beautifully constructed mini bouquet of salad leaves and micro herbs, wrapped in a slice of duck bacon that, before it hit the table, had spent nine days in the restaurant’s curing chamber, before being deployed as the string tying the bouquet together, The whole thing is then placed in a bed of soil-like quinoa and nuts to complete the illusion of a growing flower bed. Again, this is just one of the pre-snacks before the meal has officially begun.
Every course on the tasting menu at Da Terra has this level of dedication, like the so-called “humble chicken” which is true to its name insofar as, yes, it is all just chicken. But what the title of the dish pokes fun at is the enormous amount of work that goes into it. One element for example, the dried chicken’s feet, are a labour of love that sees the kitchen team block out an eight-hour marathon session each week to painstakingly remove all the bones and cartilage from each foot. Bearing in mind that a chicken’s foot is 60% bone, that is a heck of a lot of work. Let alone the work involved in the numerous other parts of the dish.
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More important than the complexity of what is on offer here, however, is whether it all tastes good, and if all that work adds up to a pleasing dining experience. Fortunately, the answer here is an emphatic yes. The importance of simple pleasure is something that can be forgotten at dining that is this high end. Sometimes form (i.e. the art involved) can take precedence over function (i.e. the pure deliciousness on offer). This is not something that troubles Da Terra’s head chef Rafael Cagali, who, through all the evident labour, maintains a firm eye (or tongue) on flavour, not to mention the overall dining experience.
An enormous amount of work goes into the chicken course
(Image credit: Rebecca Dickson)
Fascinating new tastes
This is evident first and foremost in his physical presence in the dining room. Cagali greets his guests as they arrive and introduces several courses as the meal unfolds. An act that in itself a scene-setting aspect to the meal, positioning him as a chef committed to the project, rather than a high-flying patron who has merely put his name above the door. The open kitchen also adds to the personal feeling. Many restaurants these days have a chef’s table or seats at the pass offered to a handful of lucky (or high-paying) diners. At Da Terra, Cagali puts his kitchen on display to the whole room so everyone can watch his team’s immense industry unfold.
Of course, not everything is as perfectly resolved as everything else. The mushroom and taleggio doughnut is a subtle bite that is relatively easily forgotten amid the barrage of plates that pass across the table over the course of our lunch. Likewise the moqueca stew, which, while full of marvellous invention, is slightly undone by the farofa (a type of meal made from toasted cassava), which slightly nullifies the subtle glory of the beautifully aged turbot it arrives alongside.
Still, across the roughly two hours traffic of Cagali’s stage there are few fluffed lines. For the most part it is a series of fascinating new tastes, which each demand your attention. This reviewer was catching up with an old friend whom I hadn’t seen for several years, but the thoughtful and thought-provoking food kept stealing focus from our conversation.
One such scene-stealer was the Hamachi: three elegantly sliced pieces of Japanese amberjack (including a slice of buttery belly), placed amid folds of courgette, elegantly hand-crafted flowers, and finished at the table with a herby broth. It is one of those dishes that is so beautiful to look at you almost feel guilty demolishing it. But, reader, demolish it we did.
Another wonderful course is the bread, which Cagali introduced to the table himself because, as he told us, he loves bread and feels it is often a neglected part of a meal. Not at Da Terra, where one chef is dedicated each day just to the creation of the perfectly spherical, floral patterned sourdoughs, which arrive alongside a pair of in-house butters, creamy bone marrow served, and Gonnelli 1585 extra virgin olive oil, solidified somehow and shaped into a solid egg. Cagali tells us to go at it with our hands and make a mess. We oblige with relish.
Rafael Cagali’s bread course is ‘wonderful’
(Image credit: Rebecca Dickson)
Match made in heaven
After a lunch that has already included one amuse bouche, four introductory snacks and five full courses, it is time for the desserts: first a course called “Romeo & Juliette”, so named because of the pairing involved: guava and goat’s cheese – a flavour combination Brazilians apparently call “a match made in heaven”. It is true, they play off one another gloriously.
The second dessert looks something like a sea urchin, but is made up of coconut, fermented pineapple juice and verbena. Again, a description which hardly does justice to the enormous effort that must have gone into its creation.
Coffee and four more sweets are all that remain between us and the end of the meal. The highlights of the four are the delicious sweetcorn macaroon and a liquor candy, which looks like a pick ‘n’ mix gin and tonic bottle, but explodes in your mouth with a champagne-cork pop delivering a lightly boozy final mouthful.
Rafael Cagali puts his kitchen on display at Da Terra
(Image credit: Touchfood)
The verdict
It is no accident that Da Terra has been awarded two Michelin stars, among the numerous accolades that have been bestowed upon it. But neither is Cagali resting on his laurels. His hunger for more remains evident. Mine, meanwhile, is more than sated.
Arion McNicoll was a guest of Da Terra. Tasting menu costs £225 and the lunch tasting menu (available at lunch only) is £155. 8 Patriot Square, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9NF;daterra.co.uk
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
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