We made you a winter reading list (and a playlist) ๐
+ all the goss from our Ensemble Supper Club
On a wet and surprisingly humid Thursday evening, the inaugural Ensemble Supper Club gathered in the private dining room of restaurant San Ray to break (incredible sourdough) bread with likeminded people, drink delicious organic wines from Grava and hear from our very special guest Morgana OโReilly.
The White Lotus star shared stories from the set of the hit show, as well some of the honest, and hilarious, ups and downs of her acting career - including her one-woman show Stories About My Body, and a stint as a foot fetishist in NYC. It was a fun night filled with laughter, conversation and delicious food and wine - we canโt wait to host more of them! Click here for all the goss from last week.
Books to read while snuggling up next to the heat pump
A splash of escapism is desperately needed when itโs more tempting to stay in the warmth and scroll, so we asked some of our favourite bookheads which novels help them fight off the winter blues. We received a range of answers: old to new, best-sellers to niche picks, dreamy and abstract to honest and biographical.
๐ป Need a soundtrack for your reading time, or scrolling session? Enjoy An Ensemble Winter, our annual playlist of wistful, cosy tracks weโre loving right now: songs to wrap you in your feelings, or get you dancing them out.
Inside (and outside) Lorde's tiny Love Club at the YMCA
โWhen I got home, I felt completely wired. The knowledge of having been party to something that was the subject of so much desperate curiosity but was so hermetic, so well-guarded, was deeply disorientating.โ
Last week Lorde brought chaotic brat energy to her Tฤmaki Makaurau hometown, teasing some kind of pop-up event through cryptic WhatsApp messages. It was later revealed that she was performing five songs for small groups of fans โ inside the bathrooms of the YMCA in the city.
The evening unfolded live in our Substack chat, moving from speculation over the location, to collective disappointment as most of us didnโt get invites, to elation when one reader made it inside.
If you missed the chat as it was happening, check it out here:
The Ensemble Edit
Things weโve seen, saved and shared, a (mostly) weekly column for our paid subscribers.
๐คค Cake chat! This Friday from 12pm, Duck Island celebrates 10 years by giving free scoops of its new birthday cake flavours (Chocolate Layer Cake; Coconut Pineapple Shag Cake; and Princess Cake) to the first 100 people at the Ponsonby, Cuba St and Hamilton East stores. We donโt often share brand promos like this BUT longtime Ensemble readers will know how much both Rebecca and I love cake, ice cream and Duck Island, so trust this comes personally endorsed. โ Zoe Walker Ahwa
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