An Antenna for Joy

Comte custard, blood orange sorbet and the best Blue Mountains Airbnb

Highly Enthused is a newsletter, once a podcast, concerning all the best things to consume in life. It’s written twice per month by Sophie McComas-Williams and Sophie Roberts, and today’s dispatch is written by SoRo! The majority of each newsletter is free, but there are five extra recs in each for paid subscribers. That’s often where the gold nuggets lie. Thanks for being here!

I know talking about the weather is so dull, but this week as every jasmine bush burst into bloom and the chill dropped out of the breeze I felt myself unfurling back into life. I can’t lie, this past winter has been pretty shit (for various reasons) and combined with my standard issue seasonal affective disorder my mood has not been amazing. But like every cliche, I felt myself waking back up as the first signs of spring appeared.

After months of plodding through books listlessly, I’ve been devouring multiple books in a single weekend, reading in big gulps and staying up late to finish them. I’ve been listening to music as I cook instead of just half listening to podcasts. I shaved my legs! I got a pedicure! Last weekend I walked over to my friends house, and was greeted by their kids bolting towards me down the street to launch themselves into my arms, a whole row of cherry blossoms unfurled behind them; went to get banh cuon for lunch and ran into a friend waiting in line and got an unplanned catch up in; churned a batch of sorbet so good my boyfriend banned me from sharing it with anyone else. My antenna for pleasure has come back online and I’m ready for a season with more spontaneity and joy in it.

If you walked past Caravin when it was closed you might miss it was there - the door on Ward Avenue doesn’t give a lot away. But come back in the afternoon on a sunny Friday and you’ll find a near perfect wine bar. If the weather is nice, you’ll want to get a seat on the pavement outside (the closest to feeling I’m in Paris I’m getting this year). But if it’s cold or wet - no fear! - get a spot inside the double height room - it’s dark and moody and glows at night. The team who run Caravin were the owners of Bar Suze in Surry Hills (RIP to one of my favourite first date spots), and much as I loved it (and still dream of their Skagen toast), I might love Caravin even more. It’s only flaw is being a bit too far from my house for me to be a regular there.

If you’ve timed your arrival right, (between 4:30 and 5:30 on weekdays) and Apero hour is still going you’re going to want to order one of their perfect martinis or a glass of delicious natural wine. Whatever time you get there though, the absolute must order is their comte custard and crisps. You’ll probably want to order it twice.

I don’t know how they make it so good, I don’t know what’s in it apart from comte, all I know that the smooth, creamy dip - sometimes topped with roe that pop in your mouth - is the only thing I want to eat on salted potato chips. I need to go back and properly explore their ever changing menu, but I know I’ll probably find myself there in the early evening, wine in hand, spooning creamy cheese custard straight into my mouth from a bowl. Heaven.

As soon as the first whiff of jasmine hits my nostrils I begin exclusively listening to a customised playlist of Fleetwood Mac, Haim and Maggie Rogers - my spring girl soundtrack. The only new band/singer to get added to the list in the past two years is Waxahatchee - a country tinged, indie music project by musician Katie Crutchfield. Her previous album Saint Cloud was the background to many a long lockdown walk, and afternoon in the kitchen cooking. Her newest album Tiger’s Blood has arrived just in time to hit my peak spring rotation. It’s the kind of album that makes me wish I could drive so that I could listen to it with the windows wound down, warbling along to her plaintive choruses. This Guardian review describes it as “music for sticking your hand out of a car window and tickling the breeze on a balmy day.” 3 Sisters - the first song off the album - is already climbing my most listened list for the year.

She’s touring Australia later this year, and playing the Opera House in Sydney - I’ll see you all there?

After dinner in the city with friends the other week, the four of us made our way to Centro 86 (by the same people as Cantina Ok) for a post dinner finisher. Spurred on by our Mexico incited mezcal obsession, Andrew asked them for a recommendation and they poured him a shot of the QuiQuiRiQui Pechuga. He’d googled it and bought a bottle before we’d even left the bar.

Pechuga is a style of mezcal where the spirits are re-distilled with grains, nuts, fruits and sometimes protein (usually chicken or turkey). This Pechuga has been distilled with mole paste - making it vegetarian friendly - and the result is an incredibly smooth, round and delicious mezcal. The smokiness is very light, the acidity is softer - it’s seriously seriously good. I can’t lie, the price is punchy, so think of this as something you might drink the way you drink a really good bottle of whiskey. Savour it!

A quick-fire rundown of the miscellaneous finds we’ve loved this month. In this edition: The blue mountains Airbnb link you’ve been clamouring for, a blood orange sorbet for grown ups, a mobile to hypnotise your newest baby friends, a pair of trousers to send you on a quest and one of the books I gulped down like a glass of water.