But brief overviews don’t capture the all-encompassing enchantment spun by her curations. The Feast of Fables, an event dedicated to unfamiliar retellings of well-known fairytales, offered an example of Birnbaum’s ability to create an immersive experience. The meal’s four courses embodied The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Hansel and Gretel. The salad course was a particular favorite for Birnbaum. “This is a really special piece because I felt like I was uncovering these universal stories,” she explains. The course explored how the tale of Cinderella holds commonalities with thousands of stories around the globe, and an abundance of Cinderella alter egos with absent fathers, malicious stepmothers and stepsisters, rags to riches transformations, and dashing princes. The salad began with a bed of dandelion greens “because the persecuted heroine comes up like a weed through adversity,” Birnbaum explains. Also included in the dish were dates (“because the godmother in the Middle Eastern counterpart pops out of a date palm”), bacon (“because it’s delicious and also because in many versions of the story, her stepsisters are total pigs”), and kabocha squash (“because there’s a pumpkin coach in the Disney version”). But Birnbaum doesn’t stop at stories and food. She devotes fastidious attention to detail to create a holistic experience, such as perfectly attuned ambiance and symbols planted throughout the decorations. Ideally suited to the whimsical nature of fairytales, the venue was lille æske, an art house in Boulder Creek that Birnbaum describes as “a wonder emporium” with teal walls and “many rich materials—but funky.” Reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumb trail, the azure table runner had an embroidered crimson thread serpentining down its center. Depicting the forest’s floor, she arranged her centerpiece with flowers and ferns intertwined with feathers, mushrooms, moss, and bones. It “reminds us that the pathless woods are a character, too,” Birnbaum says. “In fact, fairytales can help us find the way again when a person loses their path in life. These tales counseled us. They laid a trail of bread crumbs out of the woods, reminding us we can make it safely home without getting eaten by a big bad wolf.” With her eye for detail and creative presentation, it comes as no surprise Birnbaum’s legacy extends beyond the feasts. As a freelance photographer, she’s contributed images for a photo-ethnography book documenting farmers across America as well as an upcoming book to be published with Ten Speed Press on fruit trees. As a writer, she and three other
women co-wrote Harvesting Our Heritage: Bite-Sized Stories from Santa Cruz County History. She’s assisted Jim Denevan, well-known land artist, as project consultant and curator, and raised funds as the senior partnerships and engagement officer at the Organic Farming Research Foundation. If that isn’t enough, Birnbaum has also founded a museum, a college campus farm, and an art gallery. Birnbaum credits her artistic parents, especially her painter father, for her imaginative flare, inquisitive spirit, and drive. “I was raised to believe that I am capable,” Birnbaum says.
“We dig into history, mythology, and the roots of culture itself as we explore, explain, and taste the origins of the foods we eat today.”
– Liz Birnbaum
Birnbaum’s work with the Curated Feast, alongside her other accomplishments, earned her an honoree spot on Silicon Valley Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” class of 2017, as well as “Foodie of the Year” at the 2017 Santa Cruz NEXTies. And although her enthusiastic nature means constantly cultivating multiple projects, Birnbaum has no intention of resigning her position as professional hostess. “I cannot exhaust my love of food as a topic,” Birnbaum says. “It’s endlessly fascinating, and it’s a thread that I could pull on and pull on forever.” That’s good news for her followers. Over the endeavor’s two-year span, Birnbaum has attracted a faithful following of like-minded regulars. This collective mentality is best voiced by the Curated Feast website: “Feasters desire conviviality and knowledge of true sustenance—of their food and equally of its roots.… When finally they eat, they do so with history firmly on their side.” C