The first day of Wimbledon 2026 was spectacular. In the opening game on Centre Court, Jannik Sinner, the world number one, started slowly, untidily. Meanwhile, his opponent, Miomir Kecmanovic, an established player but not a star on the tour, put in a battling and inspiring display, taking the Italian to five sets in a game that proved to be an epic. There were slips and falls, the crowd rose to its feet on more than one occasion — dropped champagne, strawberries flying about the place as they tumbled from goblets of Pimm’s — as all witnessed two heroes put on a sensational show.
Few opening games in recent memory have been so entertaining: these players did the Championship proud with their leaps, rolls and drop shots. Gracefully, temperatures stayed in the late 20s, though Centre Court felt a little like an oven, the sun trap that it is. And so almost everyone — bar perhaps David Beckham, who stayed elegant in his tailored grey suit and sunglasses aside from when he was cajoled into partaking in a Mexican Wave next to Mary Berry — had to escape the heat at least once during an interval. Some fans, possibly those to have indulged in a fair amount of Stella, paused to nap on benches; others picnicked on Henman Hill with miniature bottles of Lanson and better pizza than in previous years; I saw a few couples settle down to canned wine and, yes, there was a lot of charcuterie, curls of faux Italian meat glistening in the London sun.
I went to eat a triptych of finger sandwiches in the Amex suite: an onion bhaji number in turmeric bread, an egg and cress, and a ham and cheese in granary. The latter was the only marginal disappointment. And though there was champagne and Pimm’s and whatever else, I stayed off the sauce at the tournament for the first time ever. Apple juice for me. The match was exciting enough for a Monday without the need to drink. Forgive me, column, for I have Sinner’ed.
Bar snacks
The Globe Tavern
The Globe Tavern in Borough, whose upstairs dining room is ever a carousel of new restaurant concepts, has announced its latest long-term residency. Kismet is a modern Turkish restaurant from HAM Restaurants (Crispin, Bistro Freddie and the like), and chef Kieran Mustafa, who most recently worked at Bibi. Kismet is to blend Turkish cuisine with Cypriot, so expect meze, koftes, kebabs and interesting salads alongside Turkish wines and beers. The room will also be done up to look a little more Istanbul, a little less London Bridge, and there’ll be live music once a week. Opens July 16.
Homer Lobster
A year after a successful pop-up on the Southbank (to which one well known food influencer offered his services, a short video, for £30,000) Homer Lobster is readying itself for a permanent London restaurant. The Paris-born seafood bar will take-over from the space once occupied by a boring matcha bar on D’Arblay Street. Homer is great in Paris, with lobster rolls, crab sandwiches, salmon pastrami, and a toasted brioche bun topped with cream cheese and caviar (better on a potato rosti, but bonjour all the same). Expect queues. Opening later this summer.
