My Bong Appétit Experience

On June 21st, 2017, I was lucky enough to be a guest on Viceland’s Bong Appétit, a series that explores cannabis cuisine with elaborate dinner parties and renowned chefs. So how did it happen? Serendipity! On May 12th, I received a message from one of the sound engineers on Bong Appétit. A female guest had backed out at the last minute and they needed a replacement within HOURS. I hesitated before saying yes because I was awaiting the arrival of my dear Colorado friend Andrew of Top Shelf Budtending. Andrew and I had plans to link with Catherine Goldberg of WeedBar LA and we three were going to attend a Virtual Reality event hosted by Grassfed, but when I text him, he told me to forget about our plans and just go do it! It was so understanding of him to let me dip on our plans. Thanks, Andrew! With Andrew’s blessing, I messaged them back and told him YES! Within two hours, a car was on its way to take me to the Bong Appétit house. It all happened so fast that I didn’t even have time to be nervous! The warm up.. Upon arriving to the house, I was greeted by an extremely welcoming production team. They showed me to the “green room” where the other guests were already settled in. We were served a platter full of flower and told to enjoy ourselves. The other guests and I spent the next few hours smoking and getting to know each other. I was in the presence of the man who created the Huf weed leaf socks you all know and love, a glass collector from Oregon, and a knife collector who lives in Japan. The hangout time prior to shooting allowed for a more relaxed and natural vibe once cameras were rolling. Abdullah Saeed, the host of the show, was filming while we were hanging out but would periodically stop in to smoke with us. Lights, Camera, Action! After hours of hang time, it was GO TIME! We took our green room vibes to the couch where the cameras turned on and the fun got started. We shared a joint and enjoyed some more conversation before the epic infused Japanese dinner began. The dinner table was modeled after a traditional low Japanese table. We were seated on cushions to help prop us up. It was so cold outside that I kept my jacket on for the whole meal. Thankfully, production found a way to sneak some heaters under our table.

Once the food got started, I was already so blazed that I couldn’t keep up with the descriptions of the foods! It wasn’t until when I watched the show on TV that I was finally clued in on what I consumed. You’ll have to watch the episode for yourself to see all of the infused foods we had!

**Cannabis tempura, made with young female tops with leaves and mature leaves used to wrap sea urchin, served with cannabis caviar pearls in soy sauce**

The grand finale of the night was getting to smoke a 10 gram sushi blunt with the cast and crew.

**The “California Roll” blunt made with Nori shaped tobacco leaves, 10 grams of Fire OG, THCA crystals, a shatter snake, live sugar and live butter!**

After dinner, I took some selfies and then headed home to greet my friend, Andrew, who had so patiently been waiting for me in his car for hours. The experience was so amazing and I am so grateful for it. The host and the whole crew were extremely nice and welcoming. Seeing the episode air was such a trip! I never imagined I’d be on tv smoking and eating weed. Who would’ve thought?