We started with red onion jam, arugula pesto, and goat cheese on toast, then made our way through amberjack with sumac and pistachio; grits with mushrooms; halibut with fennel and beurre blanc; and duck with sweet potato and huckleberry. We ended with two sublime desserts: ube milkshake (ube is a purple yam!); and brown butter cake with chai ice cream.
If your frame of reference for culinary cannabis is primarily weed brownies in your college dorm room, you need to know about David Yusefzadeh, a Boston-based Michelin-star chef who recently brought his “Eat Sacrilicious” dinners to the Berkshires. With Donna Norman of Great Barrington dispensary Calyx, Yusefzadeh hosted a private cannabis-infused dinner for 28 people at Fuel Bistro.
“With the growing legalization of cannabis, people are becoming more open to experimenting with different ways to enjoy it,” says Norman. “Cannabis dinners are more than a meal—they’re an experience that brings people together, sparks conversation, and creates lasting memories.” She’s been working with Yusefzadeh for four years, carrying products that he makes through his company Plant Jam.
Both Norman and Yusefzadeh believe that legalization should also include ways for cannabis lovers to consume socially, but our state’s Cannabis Control Commission is not quite there yet: Social consumption is not legal in Massachusetts. However, diners at pop-up events, such as the one I attended in November, can be gifted up to one ounce of cannabis, with the full ticket price going toward food.
Yusefzadeh’s events are reflections of both his mastery as a chef and his desire to educate consumers about cannabis. It’s a mission that is driven by his personal experience. Diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2011, Yusefzadeh was prescribed opioids and steroids until he decided to try medical marijuana. Now, he says, he has no stomach ulcers and keeps the disease in check solely with the use of cannabis. That said, he concedes that “I don’t think there’s anything on this planet that is right for everyone. And I think everything should be treated with moderation. With the dinner series, we want to create a safe environment for people to explore.”
At our Eat Sacrilicious dinner, the evening started with a delicious non-psychoactive terpene soda that set the mood for the food to come. Next, servers had a chat with each diner about the amount of THC they wanted to consume over the course of the dinner (I opted for a very low dose given the drive home). The inventive seven-course dinner that followed lived up to Yusefzadeh’s reputation. We started with red onion jam, arugula pesto, and goat cheese on toast, then made our way through amberjack with sumac and pistachio; grits with mushrooms; halibut with fennel and beurre blanc; and duck with sweet potato and huckleberry. We ended with two sublime desserts: ube milkshake (ube is a purple yam!); and brown butter cake with chai ice cream. The cannabis was present in the sauce of each dish but did not overwhelm the flavor profiles of the meal. Servers checked in on us regularly: Did we want more THC? Less? Were our legs still working?
Overall, the mood was cheerful and celebratory: Most of the participants were regular cannabis consumers who were thrilled to enjoy a cannabis-themed gourmet dinner in the company of like-minded diners. “For people who want to socialize, who don’t want alcohol, there are 250 dispensaries in the state and zero places for you to go and consume,” says Yusefzadeh. His hope, and Norman’s, is that that will change before too long.
In the meantime, be on the lookout for more private events from both Yusefzadeh, who wants to scale Eat Sacrilicious to other parts of the country, and from Norman, who is planning another local event this winter.
Calyx Berkshire Dispensary
307 Main St.
Great Barrington
413-717-6277
calyxberkshire.com
Plant Jam
plantjam.co
