Wine list of the week: Da Terra
Douglas Blyde visits Da Terra in Bethnal Green and digs into how head sommelier Maria Boumpa "curates wine with the precision of an architect". The post Wine list of the week: Da Terra appeared first on The Drinks Business.
Douglas Blyde visits Da Terra in Bethnal Green and digs into how head sommelier Maria Boumpa "curates wine with the precision of an architect".
Da Terra opened in January 2019 and wasted no time in earning a Michelin star within eight months and a second by 2021. By 2023, it had climbed to third on the National Restaurant Awards’ Top 100 UK list. Good Food Guide awarded it the coveted “Exceptional” status, highlighting chef-patron Rafael Cagali’s unmistakable presence: “We see his personality in the bold abstract art on the walls, the kitsch Ninja Turtle figures at the pass…and, of course, we see it in his cuisine.” Harden’s praised the “superbly inventive” dishes, while TripAdvisor’s Lloyd Stevens summed up its ambition: “Rafael, Charlie [Lee] and the team have continually been pushing forward in the pursuit of absolute perfection.”
Not every part of the Essex quail, deconstructed into small, mostly exquisite gestures, works either. The breast, skewered, glistens. The leg, folded into fine tortellini, striped like Genoese banding, floats in delicate carcass consommé. But the liver parfait, slathered onto brioche, is unnervingly powerful, perched on a transparent bowl of real feathers – a nod to the bird’s recent demise. It won’t be for everyone, even with its truffle crown. The pairing, Idda Rosso 2019, Sicilian and volcanic, with Barolo’s depth and Etna’s lift, is however eloquent.
Da Terra opened in January 2019 and wasted no time in earning a Michelin star within eight months and a second by 2021. By 2023, it had climbed to third on the National Restaurant Awards’ Top 100 UK list. Good Food Guide awarded it the coveted “Exceptional” status, highlighting chef-patron Rafael Cagali’s unmistakable presence: “We see his personality in the bold abstract art on the walls, the kitsch Ninja Turtle figures at the pass…and, of course, we see it in his cuisine.” Harden’s praised the “superbly inventive” dishes, while TripAdvisor’s Lloyd Stevens summed up its ambition: “Rafael, Charlie [Lee] and the team have continually been pushing forward in the pursuit of absolute perfection.”
Design
One tube stop from Liverpool Street, the flagship restaurant of Town Hall, realised by Singaporean hotelier, Loh Lik Peng, has a well-travelled history. Once Nuno Mendes’ Viajante, then The Typing Room under Lee Westcott, its interiors have been reimagined under Cagali and Lee, with a refined entrance scented by a Brazilian Bossa candle, a borderless open kitchen, and newly textured dining room walls. The bar, now more inviting with its central counter dismantled, houses aged Cachaças and a playlist including Gilsons’ “Vento Alecrim,” while “All Right Now” (Free) plays in the restaurant. Below, Na Mesa offers private dining for ten at a single wooden wedge, hidden in one of the hotel’s suites. For a more relaxed, sharing-plate experience, Restaurant Elis awaits on the first floor.Drinks
Head sommelier, Maria Boumpa oversees a list both daring and precise, seamlessly blending discovery with erudition. By-the-glass options range from Tio Pepe, Fino En Rama 2022 (£12/100ml) to Château d’Yquem 2014 (£120/125ml), with intriguing stops like skin-contact NV La Macération Du Soula No22 (£17) and 2022 Suertes del Marqués Edición 1 Listán Blanco from Tenerife (£34), one of nine Keeling Andrew & Co. producers here. The distributor was described by another operator as “good at making their agencies seem exclusive and trendy.” Other highlights include the iconic 2008 Solaia (£100) and 2013 Rare Champagne (£45). Indeed, Boumpa’s love for Champagne is evident, with over 20 producers featured, disgorgement dates thoughtfully noted. The list spans Mouzon Leroux, L’Atavique, Extra Brut (£105) to 2004 Dom Pérignon P2 (£945). A quartet of English names supplements these, including Hundred Hills’ 2019 Hillside No. 3 (£115), subject to three “tries”, and Hoffmann & Rathbone Blanc de Blancs 2012 (£135), aged 60 months on lees, its name fit for a detective agency. Other wines range from the brisk 2020 Txomin Etxaniz, Getariako Txakolina (£49) to rarefied 2019 Prieuré Roch Le Clos Goillotte (£3,115). Collections include Domaine Zind Humbrecht and Didier Dagueneau, alongside a budding series from Hokkaido hilltop, Domaine Takahiko Soga, Nana-Tsu-Mori - generously priced below retail. Boumpa’s Greek roots appear in 18 carefully chosen wines, including mature 2014 Assyrtiko Economou (£115). Mark Andrew MW calls its maker, Giannis Economou, “an enigmatic vigneron producing some of Greece’s most profound wines.” The sweet selection holds treasures from a half of Château d’Arlay Vin de Paille 1998 (£195) to Fukuju Yuzu sake (£15) by the glass - though caution is advised when pronouncing it. Boumpa works alongside long-serving general manager, Charlie Lee, who, like Cagali, is a Westminster Kingsway College graduate who also worked with him at Fat Duck, and wine-savvy assistant manager, Elliot Ashton Konig, formerly of The Fordwich Arms.Dishes
Born in São Paulo, with Italian heritage evident in his cooking, Rafael Cagali honed his craft at Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda, in Quique Dacosta’s modern Spanish temple, Martín Berasategui’s precision labs, and Heston Blumenthal’s mad-scientist playground. He helped open Simon Rogan’s Fera at Claridge’s (RIP) and Aulis before staking his claim here in Bethnal Green. A serenade of canapés begins in the bar. Fever-bright, a Carabinero prawn is reduced to its richest parts – head and shell worked into butter, gleaming atop what a culinary lecturer called a cassava “hash brown”, lifted by tomato emulsion. A cep mushroom, shaved paper-thin, hides Parmesan, truffle, and Madeira jelly aged so long it practically has wisdom. It arrives as a bonsai-like tableau, proving food can be sculpture. To drink, the rich, perpetual Mouzon Leroux, L’Atavique. In the dining room, Moqueca, the Brazilian seafood stew, is a standout, arriving with an essay and map – though under Cagali’s care, it needs no justification. Presented in a copper pot rather than the humble clay vessel of home, it has had an expensive education. Manteiguinha beans and peppers add depth to the extra-fatty Brazilian coconut broth spooned over preserved Cornish turbot. Toasted cassava flour brings nuttiness, while innocently tiny Cumari chillies threaten to detonate on the palate. The wine, 2022 Suertes del Marqués Edición 1, carries a vanilla-licked quality which only emerges when matched with the dish’s tropical warmth. A Spanish-reared Black Angus sirloin, aged 30 days, is another hit, bathed in deep, glossy beef stock, paired with Hen of the Woods mushroom and barrel-aged Aquarello rice studded with lobster - something beyond surf and turf. Boumpa pours from a magnum of John Duval Wines Eligo 2017, a joyous Syrah from a former Penfolds winemaker. “An intense wine for an intense dish,” she notes, correctly. The pastry team excels. Bread is an event – a domed wholemeal sourdough, pre-cut from below to make tearing inevitable. It comes with roasted, whipped bone marrow, bold, house-cured coppa, and pink peppercorn butter. The Tuscan olive oil is emulsified into spreadability, an unexpected luxury. The pairing, Rathfinny Mini Cuvée 2021, a Sussex sparkling wine in a 50cl bottle, offers fruit over acidity, adding exuberant richness. For the cheese course, Brazil’s “Romeo & Juliette” appears as a puck of blended British goat’s cheeses, capped with guava and fennel pollen, paired with a double magnum of 1987 Bual from Cossart-Gordon - deep caramel, rancio, and incessantly complex. It is, without doubt, the meal’s most congruous pairing. Dessert begins with a Cachaça Baba, pistachio, and N25 Reserve caviar, the latter seasoned to Da Terra’s exacting standards. It opens a journey through cachaça: first, Weber Haus Liqueur Cachaça Amburana, an organic iteration with hazelnut warmth; later, in the bar, Weber Haus Premium 21-Year-Old Diamant Cachaça, aged six years in French oak and 15 in Brazilian balsam wood, lingering for hours. There was a stumble. The Hamachi underwhelms, the fish struggling to hold interest. The accompaniments - salted daikon, burnt chive, nashi pear, and yuzu - fight valiantly to bring excitement, but even Boumpa’s choice of PURE from Volcanic Slope Vineyards, bright, rich, and nervy, cannot quite rescue it.
Not every part of the Essex quail, deconstructed into small, mostly exquisite gestures, works either. The breast, skewered, glistens. The leg, folded into fine tortellini, striped like Genoese banding, floats in delicate carcass consommé. But the liver parfait, slathered onto brioche, is unnervingly powerful, perched on a transparent bowl of real feathers – a nod to the bird’s recent demise. It won’t be for everyone, even with its truffle crown. The pairing, Idda Rosso 2019, Sicilian and volcanic, with Barolo’s depth and Etna’s lift, is however eloquent.
Last sip
Boumpa, whose philosophy forbids grape repetition, curates wine with the precision of an architect – structured, intuitive, and woven seamlessly into the meal’s design. Each pairing is a cornerstone, reinforcing the experience rather than merely supporting it. There is a case for Boumpa, like Cagali, to sign the menus. As the Brazilian proverb goes, “De grão em grão, a galinha enche o papo.” – Little by little, the hen fills its belly. At Da Terra, every detail accumulates, crafting a dining experience which resonates long after the meal ends.Best for
- Array of Cachaça
- Home-cured meats
- Calibrated open-kitchen
