It's my birthday! I do love birthdays and dragging them out, so I started my celebrations of Sunday with a day out and lunch in Hastings. We arrived early afternoon so didn't have long to look around as I had lunch booked at St Clements Restaurant for 3pm. I need to head back for a proper day out exploring with no time restrictions another time. From what I did see I loved the place! It's even made the list of places to move to at some point in the future..
I headed straight to the High Street in the Old Town which is full of interior, antique and independent shops. I've never seen such a concentrated amount in such a small area, I was in retail heaven! The first shop we popped into was the independent Menswear shop, Seagate. A great shop full of quality, stylish, modern classic menswear.
A few shops down was Browsers, an antiques dealers. I love these shops when they are packed full and you just don't know what you might find. A pair of Bentwood armchairs caught my eye, but I have enough I am already selling so I wasn't tempted to buy these just yet. Kula Interiors also looked like and interesting shop, with some lovely vintage chairs in the window, but unfortunately they are shut on Sundays.
We then stopped for coffees (and an elderflower juice) at the lovely Penbuckles Delicatessen. I wish this shop was my larder, it's full of delicious cured meats, cheeses, wine, sprits and other artisan chutneys and foods. I took home some elderflower wine, which although best suited to picnics and summer days in the garden, still makes for a lovely refreshing drink.
After our pit-stop we headed further downs the high street and into Object d’epoch. The shop + gallery is home to an eclectic mix of carefully selected furniture and objects including mid-century designs mainly from Italy, and France, and new contemporary designers.
After admiring the gorgeous mid-century furniture at Object d'epoch we headed to the last shop before running out of time and having to power walk to the restaurant at the other end of the bench in St Leonards for lunch. This shop, A G Hendy and Co. is a must visit. I'm sure I had seen it on television before and it was like stepping back in time. The owners had restored the shop to it's former Georgian Glory. I have never seen so many different types of brushes for so many different uses. If the Penbuckles Deli was my dream larder, then this shop was most defiantly have to be my utility room!
To end the day we sat down for a delicious lunch at St Clements restaurant.
Starters: Smoked Salmon
Starters: Terrine
Main: Roast Beef
Dessert: Chocolate tart with coffee ice-cream
Dessert: Sticky Toffee Pudding
The restaurant interior
A beautiful end to a beautiful day!