Green-Colored Glasses
When imagination becomes reality.
Most of the time, reality can’t meet the height of our imagination. But occasionally, the two synchronize in harmony, aligning our mind and our senses.
That happened this past weekend, with TASTING COLOR: a Seven Senses Feast. An idea I’ve had in my head for almost a year finally came to life and the reality met, perhaps even exceeded, my most colorful dreams.
“It all started with a word,” one of the evening guests reminded me. Indeed, it did. Last June, I published ‘Taste the Rainbow,’ featuring Sophie Calle’s ‘Monochromatic Diet’ photo series, based on a fictional character in Paul Auster’s novel ‘Leviathan,’ who only ate color-coordinated meals.
Discovering that work planted a seed that started growing over the summer. The fact that I was in Paris last June, where both Calle and Auster have lived, further fertilized the idea. By the time I returned to Los Angeles, I was determined to bring the Calle/Auster concept to life –– through a seven senses dinner experience.
I approached my friend chef Tracy Tober, whose cooking portfolio includes collaborations and commissions with The Food Network, Cookbook Market and chefs Sonoko Sakai, Gordon Ramsay, Lora Zarubin, and Grace Bush-Vineberg.
We discussed choosing the color (green) according to seasonal ingredients, and serving a fresh and original (but no-fuss) menu that would highlight the produce. She loved the concept, and the two of us started venturing into finding the right partners.
There were many false-starts and dead-ends, a few bumps and some detours, but after a few months, we found our perfect match. My friend Josh Janowicz and his wife Dounia hosted us in their unique space – a beautiful loft with a secret oasis back garden (featuring an array of plants and chickens).
Jess Cheatham, the founder of SALT ceramics, created an incredible set of dishes for the dinner, in a variety of green tones. Her ceramic colleague, Amiee Byrne, also handcrafted grass-shaped candle-holders.
D.Grayi offered two of his green scents (Pandan and Matcha Cat) for guests to take home. And I made some vegetable pigment paintings and a spring-inspired haiku as tactile gifts.
A couple weeks before the event I was lucky to be in NYC where my friends ThreeASFOUR generously offered to dress me in their designs for the occasion. I wore two green outfits from their Kundalini SS22 collection.
The Green edition was hosted over two nights, where we welcomed guests for cocktails in the garden, and then proceeded to serve dinner inside at a long communal table.
Tracy Tober created the most exquisite vegetarian menu of seven green delights (see below under ‘Taste’ for full menu). I transformed the table into a lush naturescape, with vegetable-floral installations.
A number of guests came via this newsletter, including fellow writer friends such as
but also readers of Seven Senses whom I got to meet for the first time. Some of those new guests, like Tara, first discovered my work through a poem (as part of a poetry immersion I did at NeueHouse). Again, “it all started with a word.”When I looked around, as old friends and strangers were savoring their meals, and connecting with one another – deeply engaged in conversation and laughter – my heart swelled. There is no higher zenith of joy but watching people meet and share a special moment together. As I later told Tracy and Josh ‘This is what it’s all about.’
That is ultimately why we pour all those hours, take a leap of creative faith, and dive into the complexities of human collaboration –– to create this ephemeral moment of human connection.
A few days before our event, I came across this excerpt from ‘An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith’ by Barbara Brown Taylor:
“To make bread or love, to dig in the earth, to feed an animal or cook for a stranger—these activities require no extensive commentary, no lucid theology. All they require is someone willing to bend, reach, chop, stir. Most of these tasks are so full of pleasure that there is no need to complicate things by calling them holy. And yet these are the same activities that change lives, sometimes all at once and sometimes more slowly, the way dripping water changes stone. In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life.”
This week’s sensory delights offer a glimpse of our sensorial gathering, TASTING COLOR: a Seven Senses Feast (the Green edition). If you’d like to stay updated about future dinners, subscribe below:
In Joy,
Sabrina
PS: I’ve included lots of photos so if your email gets cut off, you can read on your browser: HERE
SEE
Green setting
From the table installation, to the ceramics, to the food – the whole evening was a visual green feast.The staff and guests also became part of the experience, each of us dressed in various green outfits. It created a lush and lively ambiance, a sense of spring renewal. Someone mentioned it reminded them of the film ‘The Scent of Green Papaya,’ with its abundant nature and sensual atmosphere. Even details that we couldn’t have planned turned out green: such as the birthday candle we lit for a guests’ birthday, which surprised us all with its green flame.
HEAR
Green playlist
Available on Youtube Music or Spotify
My partner curated a special music mix for the event, which I’ve attempted to recreate as a playlist.* For the first cocktail hour, which was hosted in the garden, he featured immersive nature sounds. When it was time for guests to move inside for dinner, we turned the volume up on jungle sounds. For the dinner portion of the evening, the playlist ranged from classical to lo-fi hip hop tp jazz. We wanted the music to both be present and enhance the experience, without distracting guests from their conversations.
*Some of the sounds and songs weren’t available on any music platforms. And the Spotify and Youtube playlists are slightly different as not all songs were available on both platforms –– such as Mr.Henri Rousseau’s Dream (a personal favorite), Avante Juventude, Atarashii Yubokumn, ‘L’Amour ca Rend Fou’ by Ginni Gallan, amongst others.
SMELL
Green perfumes by D.Grayi
Available online
I first discovered D.Grayi’s green perfume via
’s newsletter. For the event, we featured two of his green signature scents: Pandan and Matchat Cat. Guests were invited to try both fragrances and take their favorite one home.The Pandan perfume is a gourmand scent, inspired by D.Grayi’s favorite Vietnamese childhood desserts – the equivalent of his Proust madeleine. With notes of coconut milk and vanilla waffle, it has a sweet profile balanced with woody sandalwood and pine.
The other scent, Matcha Cat, belongs to the tea category, with a more grassy olfactory profile. Its main notes are matcha and catnip. When I asked D.Grayi if cats react to it, he said it depends on their personality. Some will start rubbing on the carpet in excitement, others will just stare intently at the person wearing the Matcha Cat scent.
TASTE
Seven green delights by chef Tracy Tober
Follow her work online
The masterchef of this dinner experience, chef Tracy Tober, created a delicious vegetarian menu of 7 tastes. The color green was selected according to seasonal and local ingredients, some even grown on site, such as shiso leaves and yuzu.
The full menu included:
green almonds / crispy crunchy okra
warmed Castelvetrano olives with olive oil and herbs
pickled zucchini
green gazpacho
fresh sugar snap peas, mint, pistachios with yuzu dressing
ravioli verdi with fresh herb-filling
cucumber panna cotta with shiso syrup and toasted pistachios
We also served a fresh gin basil smash cocktail (and mocktail) before dinner, and absinthe as our digestif. Dinner was accompanied with a locally made piquette by Friendly Noise.
TOUCH
Dishware by Salt Ceramics
Available online or LA shop
There would be no dinner without plates – and we’re so lucky to have collaborated with the talented ceramicist, Jess Cheatham of SALT Ceramics. As our host Josh explained to guests, the process was a bit of a reverse-engineering – in the sense that we first developed the menu, and then Jess created dishes according to what we were serving. This included small salad plates, large entree plates, gazpacho bowls, snack cups, wine pitchers and cocktails sippers. She made them using various green glazes, from deep kale tones to light avocado hue. Amiee Byrne also created some playful grass-shaped candleholders.
BALANCE
Vegetal Pigment Painting + Haiku
As a tactile gift to dinner guests, I created a set of green vegetable pigments paintings. Some of you may be familiar with some of my natural pigment art. Last year, I featured a botanical pigment color palette in ‘Nature Harmony’ and the previous year I shared some of my beet paintings.
This time, I used an array of vegetables, including spinach, spirulina, cabbage, and rose petals. I played with their PH balance to alter their color and also mixed them together to create unique blends. Since no two tones are the same, each painting was unique.
On the back of the paintings, I wrote the following a haiku:
The lush flame of Spring
Unfurls its petals of hope
Bloom! The song of life.
To compose the haiku, I used the traditional Japanese method of:
5 syllables in the first line
7 syllables in the second line
5 syllables in the third line
includes a kireji (cutting word)
includes a kigo (seasonal reference)
Even though poetry is one of my favorite modes of expression, haikus are still new to me so crafting this poem felt like trying to crack a secret code, or doing poetry math.
ENVISION
Green still-life prints by Francesca Forquet
Available online
To create the event invite, I collaborated with award-winning photographer Francesca Forquet. We created a series of three still-lifes, featuring vegetables and botanicals, along with handcrafted objects (by Salt Ceramics). Each composition was shot on digital and also medium-format film camera, and both versions are available as high-quality prints online.
I leave you with a few more images from our green dinner delight – all photographed by Francesca Forquet.
Oh my! It’s all so stunning! Love your dress too!
A green feast—beautiful!