Inter-courses is about relationships - the relationship between colors and flavors, the food and the table, and the participants with each other. It is about the magic that happens once one course is served to the next.

The main component of the evening revolved around a color placemat. Its colors determined the flavors and emotions of what was about to be served. The guests were directed to pick a side and follow the colors as they evolved. The folding of it in between courses speaks to the space and time in between a course and required participation from the guests, urging them to physically get closer over the course of the event.  

Three courses of small bites and cocktails were served by Lisa and Leah from a rolling cart that they treated with colored strips, integrating the serving cart itself into the choreography. Each course focused on an activity that required guests to share and collaborate.

Taste Workshop at FRONT, San Francisco, 2015
Designed with Lisa Mishima

36 different colored cookies —made by @theroundsnycwho meticulously matched the 36 colors in the exhibition —were arranged free-style on a mirrored surface amidst other palette-inspired snackery. In some instances, pulling from both Palestinian and Israeli recipes/ingredients, the cast of characters from sweet to savory included: lemon mastic tartlettes, cantaloupe, golden berries, beet hummus, purple daikon, olives, pickled turnips, assortment of cheeses, various homemade vegetable crackers, ijee (green herbs and eggs) and zhoug (spicy cilantro spread). So many flavors, so many feelings, and like most things in life, a mishmash.

Photos: @genevieveshiffrar 🙏

Upon walking into the space, guests are greeted with what appears to be a series of minimalist paintings.  Each piece, latex paint on birch panel, consists of a pair of colors.  The panels unhooked from the wall to create a table top, the painting extending out into the space.   A selection of hand-made ceramic plates with corresponding color pairings are arranged for guests to choose from.  A slice of that color cake is served on the plate with the intention of being eaten at the corresponding table.   With no labels or menu, guests order by way of color, rather than taste and are encouraged to share what flavor they think the cake is... questioning whether color does impact our idea of flavor or not.  This was a first version of the project installed for Open Studios on October 10th, 2015 at the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art in Omaha for the Future of Food Residency.  Photos thanks to Molly Shirazi.

For Thursdays in May, Leah Rosenberg has chosen a pair of colors as the theme for that week, derived from the functional art objects that can be found in the Workshop Residence retail shop, as well as moments she encounters on the Dogpatch block where the Workshop is located.

Throughout the day, Leah takes over the back workshop to create a series of paintings using that week's color pairing to guide her palette, Working with this limited palette, allows her to refocus on the fundamentals of values, hues, composition, and pattern.  Once the pieces are complete for the day at 5pm, they are arranged on the shelves to help create the colored environment in which drinks and snacks are served to inspired by those colors.  As guests drink blue complimented by a mint green snacks, they find themselves amidst those colors...observing, holding and consuming that color pairing. The drinks and snacks are served on a tray specially designed for this project,  meticulously fabricated by the talented Ben Laramie.  There are four different trays, one for each week.  The final arrangement of painted panels, a collection of all four weeks' of color pairings, will be installed in the front entryway of the shop.

Week One, May 5 // RED + ORANGE

Week Two, May 12 // GREEN + LILAC

Week Three, May 19 // BLUE + MINT GREEN

Week Four, May 26 // PINK + YELLOW

Photos by Airyka Rockefeller.

On November 7, 2016 in my parents kitchen in Saskatoon, SK, Canada, I baked 8 cakes. The cakes turned out just as I had expected, though the news did not. On November 8th, I assembled and frosted them just as I had planned, even though I knew cake would not fix this or alleviate the shock of the election results felt by many even in Canada. On November 9th I served them at the Kenderdine Art Gallery (even if they were on the salty side #somanytears) with a hope that gathering together for cake and talking to each other might provide a glimmer of what we can continue to make that is good, what we need to put out into the world to keep on nourishing it. And if none of us felt like eating cake, or talking, we could at least quietly and collectively throw them against a wall. Turns out nothing is certain and most of us wanted to eat whole cakes to ourselves and wash it down with wine and non stop talk.

Snack City is an installation involving a selection of small bites that was first created and served to as an edible component for the first Salon Series at M-Rad Architecture in Los Angeles in July, 2015.  Using one of their oversized mirrors that typically leans against a wall as a table top, a selection of small bites were  procured and stacked, shaped, or made to stand upright to suggest an architectural landscape.  Stacked cucumber rounds, pickles with their ends cut off stood upright, halved dates held almonds, popcorn dispersed at random like pedestrians meandering the streets, crackers piled precariously, goat cheese rolled in paprika, poppy seeds or finely chopped parsley held court like points on a map indicating landmarks.  Green grapes complimented red raspberries... and then there was sliced salami. 

As culinary resident at Montalvo Arts Center last month, Sita Bhaumik invited Imin Yeh and I to come down to collaborate on a full sensory lunch.  She made a meal pulling from ingredients included in her coloring book of favorite foods.  Dessert began with serving guests a single Miracle Berry which, once dissolved, were offered a selection of fruits, and vegetables, cheeses and edible flowers to taste.  Lemons were like gum drops, cheese like frosting, sour grass turned sweet.  Pound cake was served as a palate cleanser between tastings.  We were so lucky to have Airyka Rockefeller document the afternoon from prepping in the kitchen through dessert experience.

Over the years, interdisciplinary artists Imin Yeh and I have worked on several projects as the collaborative Jews for Dim Sum. In conjunction with Declarations for the New Year at SOEX, we created a participatory event that highlights their love for print, color, flavor and treats.  We named eight colors for artists for the new year:  White on White White, Secret Studio Snacks Orange, What to Wear Black, Red Dot Sold!, Let's Get a Coffee Sometime Brown, Self Doubt Green, We Regret to Inform You Blues, It's More of a Feeling Pink.  Each color was printed under a frame where the edible color was applied either sprayed, printed, or brushed. A small treat of the corresponding color was then set on the print in the frame.  After a toast with green juice, the guests ate their treats and were welcome to take the placemat home, with residue from the experience.

A site-specific snack installation at the LAB in San Francisco celebrating SFMOMA's Blog Open Space anniversary and relaunch.  An assortment of colored snacks of various shapes were installed on sixteen foot table.  An edition of small serving cards letter-pressed at Kala Art Institute were distributed to guests who were encouraged to fill their card up with corresponding snacks whose shapes fit the shapes on the cards.  A snack legend was available at either end of the table.

I had the opportunity to collaborate with two very talented and dear friends, Lisa Mishima and Yvonne Mouser. We were invited to take part in Root Division’s annual fundraiser event TASTE. Working with the exhibit theme ALCHEMY, we designed an interactive experience that transformed light and liquid into choreographed concoctions. With the help of our friends at Tekamaki, we had a custom built “light table” (an LCD monitor without polarization) and served three drinks in magic glasses that revealed imagery and animation through the bottom of the glass.

Inspired by alchemy and mythical potions, Spirit Phenomena is about chemistry and magic. It combines performance, technology, and spirits to turn the ordinary into the extraordinary, enhancing flavors and experience using motion, illumination, color and time. We called these Elixirs To Heal Your Modern Ailments. See more images here.

Expansion of Time
ingredients: past, presence, future, infinity
(Mezcal, jalapeno syrup, lime, habanero tincture, spiced salt rim, ice cube with citrus jelly)

Path To Clarity
ingredients: dreams, vision, wisdom, perspective, intuition, attention
(Gin, sage honey syrup, lemon, dry ice, surprise)

Everlasting Vitality
ingredients: essence, collected sacred water, joie de vivre, moon beams, timelessness
(Cava, lemon verbena syrup, elderflower liqueur, effervescence, sprouts, flowers)

Root Division, San Francisco, 2016
Designed with Lisa Mishima and Yvonne Mouser

Photography by  Hugo Ahlberg

A multi-disciplinary art evening featuring live performance, participatory art activities and conversation.

For her month-long residency at LPP+, Leah Rosenberg created a stand-up bar, open for service once a week.  Offering a selection of small sculptural bites in seven courses with a focus on color and texture, flavor and arrangement, hospitality and delight, everything was served on an editioned letterpressed placemat that guests could take home.

Read more from SF Art Enthusiast here: