{"id":39912,"date":"2019-12-07T16:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-12-08T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/12\/07\/the-new-amsterdam\/"},"modified":"2019-12-08T12:43:09","modified_gmt":"2019-12-08T20:43:09","slug":"the-new-amsterdam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/2019\/12\/07\/the-new-amsterdam\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Amsterdam"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It\u2019s not an uncommon sight to see throngs of people lined up for something\u00a0au courant\u00a0<\/em>in Los Angeles; the newest Nikes, most sought-after makeup lines and most Instagram-worthy food crazes all bring out the hippest Angelenos. But on one sunny afternoon in late September, locals and tourists alike were lined up to have an experience unlike any other in the United States. It was day two of operations for West Hollywood\u2019s Lowell Cafe, the first-ever cannabis consumption lounge and restaurant to open in the country, and the buzz in the air was as tangible as the lingering scent of cannabis wafting on the breeze.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Wonho Frank Lee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Past the rather long line, where guests who hadn\u2019t snagged one of the restaurant\u2019s elusive reservations were waiting for entry, a security guard ushered in media, VIPs, influencers and guests who\u2019d reserved their table as far back as a month ago.<\/p>\n

From the hostess stand, the restaurant is cleverly divided into several spaces. To the right, a charming patio opens in front of an indoor-outdoor bar with dark, moody speakeasy-like seating behind it. The patio\u2019s courtyard is flanked by trees and ventilation hoods designed to (somewhat effectively) minimize the smokiness, and in the center, a mature olive tree provides both shade and a California chic atmosphere. Directly behind the host stand, a gate opens up onto another courtyard, which was booked that day with a private event, and is planned to be sectioned off into a \u201cseparate\u201d bar space in the future, where alcohol will be sold, per the notice of application posted on the restaurant\u2019s front wall.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Wonho Frank Lee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These distinct and modular spaces are one of the keys to Lowell Cafe\u2019s success as it navigates the complicated compliance issues at both the state and the city levels. Because the state doesn\u2019t allow food sold next to cannabis products on the same premises,\u00a0Lowell Cafe<\/a>\u00a0worked with the state and city to find a loophole: it has two sets of servers that come to your table, two menus, two checks, and even two addresses (one for cannabis, one for food). It also is not doing live food infusions, due to problems with the state\u2019s track-and-trace regulations.<\/p>\n

Lowell (which since its opening in September has already\u00a0rebranded as the Original Cannabis Cafe<\/a>) is the first of 16 consumption lounges that will be opening in West Hollywood. Eight of those lounges \u2014 Lowell Cafe included \u2014 will be permitted to allow \u201csmoking, vaping and edibles\u201d consumption, but the other eight will allow for edibles-only consumption, such as the upcoming Budberry, helmed by celebrity cannabis chef\u00a0Jeff \u201cthe 420 Chef\u201d Danzer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Wonho Frank Lee)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For now, Lowell Cafe remains the only restaurant space in the country where diners can light up alongside their lunch, and the novelty of the experience is not lost on its guests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is absolutely a new freedom for all of us,\u201d says Thomas Giordinello, co-founder of cannabis PR company\u00a0Hotline Agency<\/a>, who attended the cafe\u2019s opening day. \u201cThere was sort of this incredible, intangible feeling everyone had, without having to say a thing, recognizing that this is a special opportunity. The fact that you can consume right on top of your food is fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, there was a sense of wonder on many guests\u2019 faces as they perused a classic farm-to-table\u00a0food menu<\/a>\u00a0featuring easy, Californian fare, such as vegan nachos, tamarind chicken wings, burgers and salads. The second menu featuring the cafe\u2019s cannabis selections was presented by people dubbed \u201cFlower Hosts,\u201d servers designated to take all cannabis orders and make recommendations on the menu, which ranges from\u00a0pre-rolls<\/a>\u00a0to flower, concentrates, edibles and accessories. Pre-roll pricing ranges from $18-$30, eighths are in the $55-65 range and grams of 710 Labs concentrates go for as much as $180.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Marina Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0flower menu<\/a>\u00a0also features a selection of brands, including Maven, LA Kush, 22 Red and, of course, Lowell Farms. The edibles section is beverage-heavy, featuring pre-packaged non-alcoholic drinks like Two Roots \u201cbeer\u201d and Cann Sparkling Social Tonic. And while papers, grinders and PuffCo Peaks are free to use, pipes, bongs and flower vaporizers are priced for rent, including a $200 fee for a hookah. A $30 \u201ctokeage\u201d fee allows guests to bring in and consume their own cannabis onsite.<\/p>\n

With so many options \u2014 including, of course, the non-infused food for those not interested in consuming cannabis \u2014\u00a0 it\u2019s easy to see that Lowell Cafe aims to serve a wide variety of guests united by one thing: normalizing cannabis.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Marina Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cLowell Cafe is a place for those who are cannacurious and the cannabis connoisseurs looking to experience the plant in a welcoming atmosphere,\u201d says Kevin Brady, restaurant director for Lowell Herb Co, the cannabis company behind the cafe. \u201cFor us, this signifies the real end of cannabis prohibition in California. This restaurant is a historic moment for the cannabis movement, and in steering the normalization of the plant for the country as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Encouraging the spread of the onsite consumption model will be a key piece of said normalization, and with states like Nevada, Massachusetts, Colorado and Illinois eyeing rolling out their own social consumption programs, all eyes are on Lowell Cafe and West Hollywood. From bakery-led concepts like Budberry to a planned cannabis day spa model called Door Number Six, West Hollywood has created an innovative pathway for unique cannabusinesses and consumer experiences.<\/p>\n

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(Photo by Marina Thompson)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe are charting new territory from literally every angle,\u201d says Brady. \u201cThere are rules and regulations that didn\u2019t even exist a year ago within the City of West Hollywood, so we\u2019re very much on the forefront of something new. It\u2019s exciting, but also means we want to lead by example for the cannabis industry, while creating the best experience for our guests.\u201d<\/p>\n

TELL US,<\/strong>\u00a0would you be interested in visiting a restaurant where you could also smoke weed?<\/p>\n

Check out the other great stuff in Issue 40 of Cannabis Now.\u00a0LEARN MORE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The post The New Amsterdam<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n


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\nRead More: The New Amsterdam<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not an uncommon sight to see throngs of people lined up for something\u00a0au courant\u00a0in Los Angeles; the newest Nikes, most sought-after makeup lines and most Instagram-worthy food crazes all bring out the hippest Angelenos. But on one sunny afternoon in late September, locals and tourists alike were lined upContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":351,"featured_media":39913,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12915,50,320,85,12916,12917,488,12918,8086,12919],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39912"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/351"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39914,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39912\/revisions\/39914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}