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It’s dark and cold and a drizzle has set in, but a throng of diners are throwing back wine and cheese on a Kings Cross pavement and having a grand old time. Some are sitting inside, having secured the luxury of walls and a ceiling, but just as many belong to the spill of eaters that feast in winter coats under portable heaters. And the reason they’re here is Caravin, the newest French diner on the Potts Point block. It’s a wine bar, mostly, but their quirky and delicious roster of Comté custard, poisson cru and smoked beetroot tartare has brought patrons here to drink and dine. Plus, Caravin is European-cool.
The owners of the much-loved and now-closed Bar Suze moved into a small nook on Ward Avenue previously inhabited by Dumplings and Beer in late 2023. The two-tiered dining room, which peers into the tiny open kitchen, has been fitted with funky wall art, racks of wine bottles and a towering blackboard displaying the day’s dishes. At the centre of the room a statement Art Deco chandelier glows a soft orange.
The French-leaning drinks list focuses on natural wines, with around 20 labels available by the glass and plenty more by the bottle. The Campo di Colonnello by Umbrian producer Raina is a medium-bodied orange drop that’ll help you cool the palette. Another option in this category is the chilled red Bulbille by Richaud. The French wine is a blend of 51 per cent grenache, 34 per cent counoise and 15 per cent syrah, carrying a red-fruit acidity.
For something a little bit different, go for a glass of dolcetto, a spiced red courtesy of northern Italian natural wine makers Tenuta Foresta. Or try the Australian oxidative Pale Blue Eyes from Victoria’s King Valley, which is sweet, nutty and dry almost like a sherry.
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Caravin’s menu is ever-changing but one plate appears to have earned permanent residence. The ‘Comté custard and crisps’, a brûlée-inspired dish featuring a hard-topped pool of molten cheese, is the only dish that remains when we revisit a week later. You’re offered a bowl of chips to help you chisel away at its chive-dusted crust and scoop at the liquid cheese that bubbles beneath. The (even more) gluttonous take on the classic home-baked Camembert would only score higher marks for a more generous crust-to-custard ratio.
If it’s cheese you’re after, you won’t be found wanting at Caravin – and there’s more Comté in the form of a gougère. These egg-shaped cheese puffs, coated and baked in savoury choux pastry, quietly steal the show, carrying a subtlety of taste less seen in other dishes that tend to lean on power flavours.
Less inspired is the sheep’s cheese and honey, arriving with a sizzle on a miniature skillet fresh from the oven. Dotted with honey and chops of frazzled broccoli, the slab of saline cheese might leave you gasping for your wine.
Signs of co-owner Phil Stenvall’s Swedish heritage are dappled throughout the menu, and take centre stage on a string of cold plates layered with fish, dill and mayonnaise. The trout cru is the pick of the bunch, a zesty, herbaceous salad of cubed cucumber and slithers of raw fish, capped with a dollop of crème fraîche. It’s a formidable dish and one that offers a quenching reprieve to the procession of cheesy indulgences.
Talking of trout, the dainty pomme de terre, gone in a couple of bites, will make you want to order a dozen more. Its intricate fans of sweet choux pastry part ways for a crème fraîche combined with brown sugar and pops of briny trout roe for an exquisite mouthful.
Meanwhile, the prawn toast tosses similar flavours. Served on a bed of batter and crowned with a generous mound of caviar – this medley of mayo, herbs and prawn cuts is one diner’s gourmet heaven, but may be too rich for some.
There’s a carefree European feel, with street-drinkers joyously swilling bottles on short stools, and pre-drinking during Caravin’s late-afternoon Apéro Hour.
There’s only one option for afters and tonight it takes the form of a chocolate mousse. Topped with a generous smattering of cacao nibs, the dessert is dark and creamy and deeply intense. Fortunately, you’re gifted a sizeable quenelle of orange chantilly to make the bites less bitter.
Perhaps the best thing about going to Caravin right now is that you feel like you’re at a test kitchen. The menu is in constant flux, but with the same ingredients resurfacing in new forms, almost as if the chefs are iterating towards the perfect concoctions.
And if you’re inside, you get to watch them do it right there in front of you, in a barely-lit ramshackle den thrumming with moody blues. If you’re outside, there’s a carefree European feel, with street-drinkers joyously swilling bottles on short stools, and pre-drinking during Caravin’s late-afternoon Apéro Hour. We’re looking forward to joining them, but we just might wait until winter’s over.
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