We have a friendly cool vibe with a totally different concept!
They have a Bud Bar and you can choose your strain from their Budtender
If you enjoy the prospect of hanging out and smoking pot or eating with new friends,
this may be your kind of place.
Steve Horowitz, an owner of Ganja Gourmet, says the restaurant will not promote a party-like atmosphere.
Be forewarned, the food laced with marijuana isn't cheap.
A brownie is $10.
A dozen lemon meringue tartlets cost $120.
A whole pizza sells for $89, and a dozen sweet treats called Almond Horns cost $120.
"The food is really good," said Jamie Hillyer, a 41-year-old medical marijuana patient who paid $12 for a serving of vegetable LaGanja. Hillyer said that he can't taste the weed in the food and that it gives him a "more mellow" buzz than smoking pot.
Chefs are able to use marijuana in cooking because its key ingredient, the mind-altering drug THC, is fat-soluble, meaning it binds with oils or fats.
Marijuana chefs put leaves or buds in a food processor and grind the marijuana into green flour. Then they add the flour to oil or butter, cook it slowly for up to a couple of days while the THC binds to the fat, and strain out the green flakes.
The pot-infused oils and butters have a greenish tint and an earthy taste, but chefs say the flavor can easily be masked with garlic or other herbs and spices.
Marijuana chefs say it takes 20 minutes to two hours for the pot-laced food to produce a high.
The biggest problem, they say, is that users often eat too much, thinking the food isn't working. While you can't exactly overdose on marijuana food, people who eat too much may feel more sluggish or disoriented than they would like.
So at Ganja Gourmet, customers are allowed to eat only one menu item every 45 minutes.
Horowitz said the restaurant will offer courtesy rides home for customers who feel they can't drive.
"I hope the launch of Ganja Gourmet will set the standard for other Colorado distributers and distributers around the nation so that those suffering from illness get the best service possible," Horowitz said.
Any pothead can make pot brownies. Gourmet chefs are taking the art of cooking with marijuana to a higher level. (it seems all chefs say that these days)
Employees wear tie-dyed T-shirts that proclaim, "Our food is so great, you need a license to eat it."
The customers at the Ganja Gourmet must show a medical marijuana card that proves they have a doctor's permission to use pot.
