A grown up meal out at Pitch in Worthing: One Thing or a Mother

It would seem summer is now over, and some kind of new monsoon season has arrived to help us segue into autumn.

And high winds are apparently an essential element, too.

We had booked cinema tickets to see the new James Bond film at the Connaught in Worthing on Saturday afternoon, followed by some more celebrating of the big birthday with a meal at Pitch and cocktails afterwards.

My dad kindly agreed to drop us off in town, but even in the ten-second dash from the car to the box office I was left looking like Worzel Gummidge (there’s a comparison that will really convey how young and hip I am...!)

The hair that had taken me an hour to curl was now what can only be described as a very good attempt at a Flock of Seagulls ‘do’ (again, really nailing these youthful references).

Even in the four months we were in the cinema watching Bond, James Bond (okay, the movie wasn’t quite that long, but I can’t say this was my favourite 007 installment – the concrete bunker set is pretty dull. Or maybe I was just too eagerly anticipating my dinner?!), the weather hadn’t abated.

So the ‘dragged through a hedge backwards’ look was only enhanced by a battle against the elements down to Warwick Street. Not helped by my husband’s ‘windproof’ umbrella breaking the second it was hit with, err, wind!

But, once safely inside the restaurant with a particularly delicious glass of a fruity white in hand, all thoughts of the storm were forgotten.

It was our first trip to MasterChef winner Kenny Tutt’s flagship restaurant, and it 100 per cent lived up to all the hype I’d heard about it.

Yes, it’s not the cheapest meal in town, but in this case the phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ is so accurate.

The food was absolutely delicious, and the service was friendly and attentive. We enjoyed it so much. If you do go, try the cheddar and truffle doughnuts if you can – they’re unbelievable.

We had a nightcap or two over the road in Finch, which was also lovely.

It makes me so happy that Worthing has so many fantastic food-and-drinks offerings now. You can have such a great night out in our town.

But enough fun for the adults. Sunday was all about the kids.

My daughter had been invited to a party at Out of Bounds, and Oh. My. Goodness, there were so many people there. Children were everywhere, living their best soft play lives (phew, finally a reference Gen Z might understand).

If Out of Bounds is the Church of Fun, then it seems everybody within a 50-mile radius of this near Littlehampton out-of-town venue is a believer.

It was actually bordering on comical, because wherever you stood, you were always in somebody’s way.

I can’t say that during lockdown I’d missed experiencing party children screaming and eating a lot of sugar in a collective mob, but it was really nice to see them back doing things like this. Even if mummy’s eardrums are still recovering.