A Cincinnati chef is cooking up something you will not find on a typical dinner menu: short rib, lasagna and even ice cream laced with THC. Chad Esmeier is behind Electric Lettuce, a pop-up dinner series that fuses fine dining with cannabis, and its next event lands on Sept. 29 at a location still being kept under wraps.
Electric Lettuce is described as a pop-up dinner series combining cooking and cannabis, according to CityBeat. The Cincinnati publication reports the upcoming dinner will feature THC-infused dishes including short rib and lasagna, though the venue itself has not been disclosed. Because the meal is structured as a private dinner that includes cannabis as a gift, Esmeier is not technically selling weed to his guests, per the outlet’s reporting.
What’s Actually on the Table
The menu CityBeat previewed reads like a tasting menu with a twist. Guests can expect rye focaccia finished with THC-infused malted butter, lasagna built around locally foraged sorrel and prickly lettuce, and a course featuring pecorino pepato paired with cannabis pollen. Dessert brings tonka bean ice cream alongside banana cake, date syrup and spicebush, all according to the same CityBeat report.
Drinks get the same treatment as the food. The dinner will include a beverage made with locally sourced pawpaws, and spirit-free pairings for each course are being created by Kelsey St. Clair, the outlet notes. For diners who want the experience without the high, the report states that guests can choose to eat all dishes cannabis-free, and can also select how much THC they consume simply by choosing their ticket type.
The Chemistry Behind the Menu
Esmeier’s cannabis technique goes beyond just sprinkling flower into a dish. He plans to use Rick Simpson oil, described in the CityBeat piece as a highly concentrated form of cannabis, in several dishes at the upcoming dinner — a method he has used before, having incorporated the oil into butter at a prior Electric Lettuce event. He also works cannabis-derived terpenes into sauces and aiolis, which the report describes as non-psychoactive and highly concentrated, meaning they can add cannabis flavor and aroma without the intoxicating effect…