For local chef Chad Esmeier, his pop-up dinner series Electric Lettuce combines two of his favorite things: cooking and cannabis.
“I’ve always loved cooking with weed. I’m very knowledgeable about cannabis in general, and I do a lot of research on it, so it’s nice to merge that with molecular gastronomy and to get people excited about edibles in a way that’s not just, like, a weed brownie,” he said.
His next dinner event — happening on Sept. 29, in an as-yet-undisclosed location —features THC-infused dishes you’d never expect to see listed on your average dispensary’s menu, like short rib and lasagna.
Esmeier made a name for himself as a bartender at Sundry & Vice and its sister bar Comfort Station before moving on to helm the gin bar Juniper’s in Covington. During his time there, he began working on several culinary pop-ups like Dunch Provisions, in addition to cooking every Monday at Juniper’s.
Eventually, he made the jump to cooking full-time and “dipped my toes in as many fine-dining spaces as I could,” like Young Buck Deli and his current employer, The Baker’s Table, where he operates the restaurant’s pasta program.
“After bartending for a long time, I found the kitchen world was more my speed and a better outlet for my creativity,” he said. “I learned how to make pasta from my grandma. I have very fond memories of going over to my grandma’s house and cooking with her. It was never anything like super fancy or complicated, but it really gave me a strong foundation for the Italian roots in my cooking.”
That same foundation and prior experience is what he’s bringing to the table at Electric Lettuce. For example, the rye focaccia he’s serving at the next dinner is a recipe he developed during his time at Young Buck, served with a THC-infused malted butter. And the second course will be a lasagna with locally foraged sorrel and prickly lettuce, accented with pecorino pepato and cannabis pollen. He’s most excited for the dessert portion, which is a tonka bean ice cream paired with a banana cake, date syrup and spicebush.
In several of the dishes, he’ll use Rick Simpson Oil — a highly concentrated form of cannabis, often used to treat cancer — to add flavor to the food.
“I’ve got a big focus on locally sourced, locally foraged ingredients that have similar terpenes and flavor compounds to the cannabis, because I use cannabis-derived terpenes in the recipe. And those are all non-psychoactive, highly concentrated. I’ll use them for sauces, aiolis, things like that,” he said. “It’s really cool to to be able to use local ingredients as much as possible, especially foraged stuff. It gives you a different connection with the food.”
In addition, his partner Kelsey St. Clair will be creating spirit-free drink pairings to go with each dish. St. Clair is well-known for running several cocktail classes and bartending events around the city as part of her business On A Big Cube. While the drink menu isn’t set in stone yet, Esmeier confirmed there would be a drink utilizing locally-sourced pawpaws at the next dinner.
He took special care to stress that he’s not “selling weed” to anyone, and that guests at the dinner can choose to eat all of the dishes completely cannabis-free, if they so choose. It’s “a private dinner that happens to include cannabis as a gift,” and guests can choose the amount of THC they’ll consume when they purchase a ticket. Whatever guests choose, he hopes they walk away with a “bigger appreciation for what edible cannabis can be.”
“I hope people begin to understand that it doesn’t have to be a brownie or gummy or something like that … When you’re accentuating the flavors of cannabis with terpenes from other food, it changes the way you feel. The science behind it is so interesting to me, and I learn more every single day. It’s super rad.” Esmeier said. “And I hope that it inspires other people to do some weed dinners too, or just pop ups in general. We have a really awesome pop-up scene in Cincinnati with people doing cool stuff all the time, and I love being a part of it.”
For more information on Electric Lettuce, including how to purchase tickets, visit Chad Esmeier’s Instagram page.
