Café Eighty-One sits inside Jaguar at Knightsbridge, with a menu created by Michelin-starred chef Michael O'Hare. Best known for the boundary-pushing tasting menus at The Man Behind the Curtain in Leeds, O'Hare turns that inventive streak on British cafe staples here, from the bacon sandwich to the cream tea.
The scone is the signature. O'Hare settles the jam-or-cream-first debate by sidestepping it: each scone is shaped as an oloid, a curved, rolling form designed so that scone, jam and cream land in every mouthful in fixed proportions. There are four flavours, including strawberry jam with Madagascan vanilla mousse, passionfruit curd with hazelnut and chocolate mousse, and a vegan, gluten-free Peach Melba with raspberry jam and white peach mousse.
Savoury dishes play similar games with the familiar. Sandwiches come in glazed steamed buns or soft milk bread, so the bacon sandwich is cured Iberico pork secreto with spiced ketchup and dashi-infused mayonnaise, while the lobster roll pairs native lobster tail with Amalfi lemon mayonnaise. Soups are served in cups for sipping - try the French onion bone broth with a Comte and Beaufort whip - and egg and soldiers arrives with brioche and either shaved truffle or Exmoor caviar. For a guided tour of the menu, The Chef's Edit costs £75 per person, for a minimum of two guests.
Tea gets serious attention. Pressure-brewed teas range from a Sikkim second flush muscatel to a Korean yellow tea, each matched with a specific scone, while the coffee is a single-origin light roast from Rwanda's Huye Mountain. Tea also finds its way into the cocktails: a Green Tea Negroni, a Jasmine Old Fashioned and a Rooibos Spritz topped with English sparkling wine. The wine list sticks to England too, with Gusbourne sparkling leading the way.
Café Eighty-One is open daily from late morning into the evening, and walk-ins are welcome when there's space, though booking is recommended.