Ah the first real sunny weekend in our new city! Husband was home on Friday after a week away working so we decided to head straight out to make the most of it.

In the spirit of this blog I thought I might also find a fab little eaterie with a secret garden hidden away somewhere that I could tell you about! Having a baby however, means you have to wait until after the lunchtime nap has taken place and so we didn’t get going until gone 2pm. And after deciding to take the dog with us we knew we would be chasing the sun if we wanted to sit outside.

Wandering round the North Laines, without a scarf, we couldn’t find a spot warm enough or large enough for all four of us, the narrow streets meant that much of the afternoon sun was hidden.

Giving it up as a bad job we remembered that the Druid’s Head allows dogs and so we headed for The Lanes. Thinking by now that we would definitely have to sit inside as the shadows were starting to get longer. Turning into Brighton Place where the city’s 2nd oldest pub is located we spotted a free sun-drenched table outside the large sprawling Italian pizzeria Donatello – probably the most obvious restaurant (Tootsies aside) in the whole of The Lanes. It wouldn’t have been our first choice but we grabbed the table and ordered flasks of Chianti, bowls of pasta and grilled fish, Dog got a bowl of water and Baby gummed some crusty bread (he’s teething bless him). I was impressed - not only was the food lovely (if rather buttery) and the staff extremely helpful but the sun stayed with us until 4.30pm thanks to the wide plaza.

Saturday morning dawned the same and once again we decided to be sunseekers, we knew however that if we were to be assured of those late afternoon rays maybe we shouldn’t head inland again but start for the coast.

Walking towards the piers we spied Alfresco with its gleaming chrome decks thrust out onto the beach right in front of us. Could we? Should we? It’s hardly the road less travelled and we could see that it was packed full of sightseers, but we decided to give it a go, besides Baby was already looking every inch the Day Tripper wearing a knotted, white hankie for a hat!

Despite the fact it was incredibly busy we were seated immediately on the high outside deck, served relatively quickly and provided with an immaculate high chair. And as the sun sparkled off the chilly spritzer glasses and the chatter was drowned out by seagulls and seaspray we actually felt like we could have been in a secluded Riviera setting. We ended up staying until nearly 5pm, basking in the sun the whole time.

Now neither restaurant would be found in a Private Guide to Brighton as both are definitely on the tourist track but if you’re looking to dine in a guaranteed sunny spot then I would recommend either.

Sunday was Mother’s Day but we felt we had probably had our fill of popular eateries so something more low key was on the cards. I was warmed to find that Husband had taken a trip to one of Bert’s Homestores (George Street and Western Road) in order to create an enchanting morning tray full of gorgeous little things I would like to have more of in my kitchen. Bert’s is a great local shop full of good gifts for housewives!

I wish however that they also sold hindsight; I would want to go back and put that scarf on, because after searching for the sun on the warmest weekend of the year so far - I’ve managed to catch a cold. That’ll teach me.