The brand’s new permanent home opens in Knightsbridge, and for a showroom, there’s a surprising lack of cars here. 

But for the lack of automotive browsing on offer, the flagship does boast plenty to keep you busy. There’s the Design Vault, which seeks to turn the business of commissioning a new car into something more cinematic, with digital personalization and storytelling designed to take you through the process. There’s also a small library-like archive, should you be looking for a little inspiration before deciding what your new set of wheels ought to look like.

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Café Eighty-One is the flagship’s permanent dining space

The two-storey space is supposedly a physical expression of the brand’s new aesthetic, dubbed Exuberant Modernism. For those still confused about what that exactly means, the interior will only go so far to help illustrate (the walls of bright pleated velvets and geometrically shaped furniture tick off the exuberant part, while the bare travertine stone and brass touches are the modernism). 

The Design Vault makes commissioning a new car something more cinematic

The rest of the space is designed to give people reasons to return, with exhibitions, artist residencies, talks, and workshops planned alongside private tastings, culinary collaborations, and Jaguar’s Taste Series hosted at Café Eighty-One. That’s the new permanent dining concept created with Michelin-starred chef Michael O’Hare, which will open to the public daily whether you have a design appointment for a new car or not. 

O’Hare’s menu takes familiar British rituals and “tea-time favorites” and gives them a more refined spin. There is an “egg and soldiers […] like my nan used to make,” he said at the preview evening, except this one is a creamy, custardy chawanmushi topped with a generous serving of caviar. There are also fancy lobster finger sandwiches and strawberry scones in the shape of ‘oloids’.

Michelin-starred chef Michael O’Hare is behind the menu at Café Eighty-One

While the menu is rooted in the brand’s Britishness, it’s a very sharp U-turn from the notions of heritage and historic references usually tied up with the nation’s craftsmanship. To wash it down, there is a thoughtfully selected offering of English wines and an even longer list of teas.

The menu puts a refined spin on nostaglic British classics

London is not short on overly engineered cafés and places to pick up a pastry, but their popularity shows no signs of slowing down. Café Eighty-One is clearly trying to tap into that appetite while giving Jaguar something that most car showrooms don’t have: a reason to visit when you aren’t in the market for a new car.  For now, at least, it’s a place for you to get reacquainted with the all-new marque.