We caught up with our friend and culinary hero, Chef Chris Binotto, who was at Six Flags Great America where he’d come for summertime fun with his kids. Chris was literally baking in an extremely hot car as he got baked in between rides. As we imagine is the case in his kitchens and the open fires he cooks over for his epic “Primal Outdoor Dining Experiences,” the intense SoCal sun and oppressive heat didn’t seem to dampen his spirits in the slightest. This immensely talented and solid human was forged in and for the fire.

Chef Chris is a one-person joy bomb, radiating positivity and enthusiasm from every cell of his highly animated being. When the pandemic roached the buzz of most in the culinary world, he got inspired and thought, “let’s take this outside,” marrying his impressive culinary talents and love for the great outdoors to create Embers & Ash, which brings haute cuisine to a campfire near you. Just because we couldn’t gather safely indoors didn’t mean the end of gathering altogether. These experiences helped many lucky folks stay sane and satisfy their social urges during our challenging, distanced times.

And his culinary innovation and creativity didn’t stop there. After fifteen years of blood, sweat, and tears, two Michelin stars, and a Forbes 5-star rating, Marc Leibel, a dear friend and collaborator, approached him with the idea for Cannabis Supper Club, substituting cannabis flower for wine pairings in a modern twist on a chef’s tasting menu. Instead of infusions–each dish was paired with a different strain of flower to be smoked to each diner’s personal preference–radically simplifying the challenges of proper dosing. He says he was skeptical because smoking anything can dull one’s taste buds. Two courses into the first dinner in Laguna Beach, he tells us he looked into the dining room and realized they were onto something. All the guests agreed. 

“The beauty of individually dosing your dishes or cannabis flower pairing, especially for newcomers, is that you’re able to focus more on the recipe for the dish and worry less about whether the dosage per ounce of sauce on the plate is correct. Don’t get me wrong; I think both have their time and place and generally incorporate both methods into my cuisine. The most important thing is to stick to what you know and enjoy! Once you have your foundation, the sky is the limit! (pun intended)!”

Like Napa Valley Fumé, Chef Chris is all about the terpenes and how these organic compounds affect the flavors and scents—and the overall sensory experience—of the dishes he was serving. He’s bringing sophistication and elegance to a community–sometimes viewed with judgment as a bunch of couch-locked stoners–delivering Michelin quality dining experiences enhanced and elevated by cannabis.

Over the years, Cannabis Supper Club has evolved and progressed. Chef Binotto has made it his mission to elevate cannabis cooking from White Castle to white tablecloth with his stylish popups. It is all about raising the game–not just for cannabis chefs but for chefs generally–and venturing where others dare not tread. Recently, he was inspired to offer a creation he calls “smoking a dessert–a truffle popcorn cheesecake mousse under a dome smoked with a cocktail smoker using cannabis flower.” He also loves his flavor blaster–a portable, handheld smoke infuser–and uses it to create glucose and smoke bubbles that release the essence of terpenes into food and cocktails. He’s been known to toss cannabis trimmings onto the open fire when cooking under the stars to smoke a duck breast and uses cannabis flower in chimichurri as a parsley replacement. He’s obviously having a blast creating these delights and cannabis as a central ingredient is bringing more joy to his cooking. These exceptionally creative dishes allow us, cannabis enthusiasts, to proudly reclaim the term “stoner food” as Chef Binotto is showing us what is possible beyond Pop-Tarts and HoHos, and is literally giving us life with his savory cannabis-leaf-flecked funnel cakes. 

Like many of us, Chris’ journey with cannabis started early and has been a big part of his life since he was a kid struggling with ADHD. He discovered as a “young adult” that cannabis helped him “focus and organize my mental.” One chef he worked for apparently pulled him aside and said “I’ve never told any of my cooks this, but maybe you should smoke a little bit before you come into the kitchen.” He works with our favorite plant medicine to help him stay calm and focused in the high-stress environments of working the line at some of the country’s top-rated restaurants. He says that working with cannabis and training under top chefs like Iron Chef Morimoto was the perfect pairing to help him develop key life skills—organization, discipline, and focus as well as time management, cleanliness, and problem-solving. 

“My favorite method of creating infusions is with the immersion circulator, and I like to dose my dishes individually with an olive oil-based infusion/tincture. If you enjoy a stronger cannabis flavor, I suggest incorporating raw cannabis flower or leaves to help give your dish that extra oomph! Whether you like to batch dose your sauces or infuse them individually, stick to a proper dosage that works for you, and most of all, don’t be intimidated and have fun!” says Chris.

For infused recipes, Chef Chris loves Sous Weed and says that Chef Monica is an inspiration and performs at the top of the game when it comes to culinary cannabis. Another pro-tip “Bong Appetit: Mastering the Art of Cooking with Weed is a must-have for not only any beginner but every pro chef and enthusiast alike.” When it comes to choosing strains for infusing and pairing, he says he enjoys cooking with heavy Limonene and fruity, terpene-rich strains. “I find working with citrusy notes—like fumé’s limonene-rich Strawberry Bananaz—works very well for balancing the flavor of olive oil or oil-based infusions in particular. He also finds that fumé’s Dank Fruit “brings some uniquely beautiful notes to infusions.” 

fumé and Chef Chris are all about elevating the cannabis experience and celebrating the nuances of this magical, versatile, medicinal plant, all the while having a blast. A perfect pairing if we do say so. Oui Chef!