One of San Francisco's top restaurants has blazed a new frontier. Through a partnership with Sonoma Hills Farm, two-Michelin-starred Lazy Bear has rolled out a bespoke cannabis strain called Lazy Bear Reserve, a "first-of-its-kind" collaboration between a weed farm and fine-dining restaurant, says chef David Barzelay. They're branding it not as an amuse bouche before sitting down for a tasting menu but as a "social tonic," a way to bring Michelin-level chill to your next dinner party.
Barzelay and business partner Colleen Booth have been searching for the perfect strain — what cannabis folks call "pheno-hunting" — for three years. The process involved planting, growing, then testing (and no, that doesn't always mean smoking) thousands of strains to find one that matched their vision. They wanted flower that expressed the essence of Northern California, complementing ingredients often found on the Lazy Bear tasting menu. And they wanted it to not only smell like Meyer lemon and redwood trees but taste like it, too. When the hundreds of seeds in Sonoma Hills Farm's catalog failed to deliver what they wanted, they brought in a third partner, Humboldt Seed Company, for help to breed their own.
The final product offers aromas such as wild California bay laurel, redwood, and Douglas fir. They specifically chose a sativa strain, known for its energizing qualities, in the hopes that it will provide a "social high, something that was uplifting and energetic," Barzelay says. The pre-rolls offer a gentle smoke with subtle woodsy and citrus notes that gives way to a relaxing full-body high.
Despite cannabis being legal in California, there's still plenty of stigma around smoking, especially in a fine-dining setting. "I think it's because there's this fear, like, 'What will Michelin think about this? Does this erode the dignity of a restaurant that is in many ways quite serious?'" Barzelay says. He and Booth hope Lazy Bear Reserve will change that.
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