Michael O’Hare teams up with Jaguar for Café Eighty-One in Knightsbridge
Chef Michael O’Hare is returning to London with an unusual new project: Café Eighty-One, a restaurant and afternoon tea concept opening inside Jaguar’s flagship store in Knightsbridge. The partnership brings the chef behind Leeds’ former Michelin-starred The Man Behind the Curtain into the world of luxury automotive design, with a menu that promises familiar British traditions with a more experimental edge.
Rather than functioning as a conventional car showroom café, Café Eighty-One is intended to become a permanent food and drink offering within Jaguar’s flagship, alongside collaborative events and the brand’s new Jaguar Taste Series.
An afternoon tea inspired by automotive design
The food offering will centre on contemporary British cooking, with classical dishes given a modern interpretation. The headline attraction is a contemporary afternoon tea featuring a sculptural petit gâteau inspired by the oloid, a geometric form that has influenced the design of Jaguar’s forthcoming Type 01 vehicle.
The oloid is an unusual three-dimensional shape, making it an intriguing reference point for a chef whose cooking has often pushed beyond conventional presentation. Details of the full afternoon tea menu have yet to be announced, so it remains to be seen how far the geometric inspiration will extend across the experience.
Café Eighty-One will also host collaborative events, including the Jaguar Taste Series, bringing food and drink into the brand’s wider cultural programme.
For Jaguar, the project offers a way to engage visitors beyond the cars themselves. For O’Hare, it provides a new platform for his distinctive approach to food in one of London’s most recognisable luxury shopping districts.
Michael O’Hare’s return to London
O’Hare is best known for The Man Behind the Curtain, his Leeds restaurant that became recognised for its adventurous approach to fine dining and earned a Michelin star before closing in 2024.
His career also includes working alongside chef John Burton-Race at The Landmark in London before establishing his own restaurants in the north of England.
That background makes Café Eighty-One an interesting next move. O’Hare has built his reputation on challenging expectations of what restaurant cooking can look like, while Jaguar is positioning its Knightsbridge flagship as more than a retail space.
The partnership gives both sides an opportunity to explore the relationship between design, craftsmanship and hospitality, although the restaurant’s success will ultimately depend on what arrives on the plate.
O’Hare has described the ambition as taking familiar British rituals and looking at them differently, while keeping the experience welcoming and enjoyable. It is a useful indication of the direction: creativity and visual impact, without losing sight of the traditions underpinning the food.
More than a showroom café?
Café Eighty-One arrives as luxury brands increasingly look towards hospitality and cultural programming to give customers reasons to spend time in their physical spaces. Jaguar describes the Knightsbridge flagship as a year-round cultural platform, with the café forming part of that broader ambition.
The challenge will be to make the food compelling in its own right, rather than simply an extension of the brand experience. A distinctive afternoon tea and a chef with O’Hare’s track record give the project a promising starting point, but further menu details and pricing will help establish where it sits within London’s competitive afternoon tea market.
For now, the most intriguing prospect is the meeting of O’Hare’s experimental style with Jaguar’s interest in sculptural design. If the finished experience translates that idea into genuinely enjoyable food, Café Eighty-One could offer Knightsbridge visitors something rather different from the usual luxury retail pit stop.
Café Eighty-One — At a glance
Cuisine: Contemporary British
Location: Jaguar flagship store, Knightsbridge, London
Style: Contemporary dining and afternoon tea
Price: Not yet confirmed
Best for: Afternoon tea, design-led dining and a different Knightsbridge experience
Michelin status: No Michelin status announced for Café Eighty-One
Foodoholism verdict: An intriguing collaboration between an experimental chef and a luxury car brand. The oloid-inspired petit gâteau gives the project a distinctive hook, although the full menu and prices will determine how compelling it is as a dining experience.
