It’s difficult to put into words just how hard it is to win one Michelin star, let alone two. While it’s rarely the aim of a chef to win one (and something none will ever admit to if it is), there are few accolades that carry such importance within any industry. Naturally, that means winning one can feel like invisible handcuffs – Michelin-starred chefs can be so scared of changing things in case it results in a loss of a star that they stop innovating. For Rafael Cagali, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Born in São Paulo, Brazil, Rafael grew up with plenty of first-hand experience of running a food business; his mother ran a self-service restaurant and his Italian grandfather owned a soft drinks factory. But he was far too obsessed with football to even consider food as something he could do professionally. After playing for a few professional youth teams, however, he was encouraged to go to university to study economics. ‘I lasted a year and a half,’ he says. ‘I felt like I’d gone and done something which was expected of me without really thinking about it.’

Feeling restless, he made the decision to leave Brazil entirely and head to London to improve his English. At just 19 years old, it was a bold move. ‘It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever made in my life,’ he says. ‘My English wasn’t great, I knew nobody over there and I spent most of the plane trip over crying.’

Rafael ended up in Fulham and took a kitchen porter job to make some money. When things got busy he was given a section to run, and as time went on the head chef gave him more and more opportunities. Encouraged, he enrolled on a part-time course at Westminster Kingsway College – but the combination of full-time work and part-time study started to take its toll. ‘I had a good life back in Brazil – good friends, good family,’ he says. ‘I started to really miss that and get very lonely, but I held strong and decided I wouldn’t go home until something happened for me.’

After three years in London, Rafael moved to Verona in Italy to explore his family’s heritage – taking a job under chef Stefano Baiocco at the Grand Hotel Villa Feltrinelli on Lake Garda. ‘I had to learn Italian while working in a very intense kitchen, with a chef who was completely focused on being the best and winning a Michelin star. I stayed there for three-and-a-half years, getting to know how everything worked behind the scenes and being part of every process. That’s something which sticks with you.’

From Italy he moved to Spain, working in San Sebastian and at Quique Dacosta’s three-starred restaurant in Denia. By this point Rafael was a seriously accomplished chef who knew how much work goes into Michelin-level cookery, so when an offer to become a stagiaire at The Fat Duck under Heston Blumenthal came his way, he went for it. ‘I knew how hard it was going to be, but I also knew how much of an impact it could have on my life, both professionally and personally.’

Rafael arrived at The Fat Duck in 2012, and stayed there for the next two years. ‘It was a high point in my career,’ he says. ‘All the chefs in that kitchen are still doing amazing things today. Everybody was so driven and pushing in the same direction. Being part of that was pretty special.’ It was also the time when Rafael met his now-husband and business partner, Charlie Lee, and after leaving to spend seven months together back in Brazil, the pair returned to the UK to help open Simon Rogan’s restaurant Fera at Claridge’s. For the next five years, Rafael became an integral part of the Rogan culinary universe, heading up the in-house development kitchen before opening Aulis in Soho. It wasn’t until 2019, when a site in Bethnal Green became available, that Rafael decided it was time to set out on his own.

Da Terra opened in the old site of chef Lee Westcott’s Typing Room, and before that it was chef Nuno Mendes’ Viajante – two highly regarded restaurants by big name chefs. ‘I wasn’t well-known at the time, so people kept comparing what I was doing to what was there before,’ says Rafael. ‘I knew I had a lot of work to do, but most of all I wanted to express myself and surprise people. When we won our first Michelin star the same year of opening, it was huge – it gave me confidence and made me realise I could do something really special.’

The second Michelin star came in 2021, which was a particularly quick ascension and a testament to just how clever Rafael’s cooking is. The food at Da Terra is influenced by his Brazilian and Italian heritage, but it’s not beholden to it. There are just as many classical French techniques on show as there are South American ingredients. Unusually for a restaurant at this level, the offering has changed pretty dramatically since the second star was awarded. ‘I don’t feel limited by the stars at all,’ he explains. ‘My only goal is to make Da Terra better than it was yesterday. We’re certainly not the same restaurant we were five years ago; how boring would that be?’

While Da Terra is the flagship, Rafael and Charlie haven’t stopped there. Elis, in the same building, is a more relaxed sharing plates restaurant which leans further into Rafael’s Brazilian roots. Over in Brighton and Hove, the couple opened Maré in 2025, winning a star there in just six months – an incredible feat, especially considering the city hadn't had a starred restaurant for over 50 years beforehand. It’s clear Rafael knows how to ‘do’ fine dining, but what sets him and his restaurant apart is his knack for making his food not just impressive, beautiful and delicious – but interactive, engaging and fun for those lucky enough to eat it.