Cooking Infused Dinners for Snoop Dogg and Other Artists: What Chef Matt Learned

Here's a story I've told in interviews: it took me about a year to convince Snoop Dogg to try one of my infused meals.

That's not a knock on him. When you're that famous, people hand you "infused" everything. Most of it is mediocre food with an unknown dose. My pitch was different. I told him I could describe exactly how one of my meals would make him feel, because I knew what was in it.

Eventually he said yes.

Adults 21+ only, and only where cannabis is legal.

What cooking for artists taught me

1. The best guests have had everything. Flavor is what surprises them.

People like Snoop Dogg and Julian Marley have been offered every edible on earth. Strength doesn't impress them. A great plate of food does. That's the whole lesson of my food-first philosophy.

2. Predictable beats powerful

When someone has a show, a flight or a long night ahead, they need to know what they're getting. Measured doses, labeled plates and a planned pace aren't a downgrade. They're what lets people relax.

3. The strain matters

A lot of cooks infuse butter without paying attention to what they're infusing. I build menus around the profile of the cannabis I'm cooking with, the same way a sommelier thinks about a wine. More in Terpenes in the Kitchen.

4. Discretion is part of the service

A private dinner is private. The guests, the menu and the night stay at the table.

You don't have to be famous

Everything I learned at those tables is what you get when you book me: a custom menu, measured doses, real food for anyone who isn't partaking, drinks, late-night snacks and goodie bags to take home. I cater private dinners, mixers, cooking classes, buffets and any food event, and I travel to any state.

Book a Chef Matt dinner

Want the backstory? From a Long Beach Backyard BBQ to Cannabis Chef of the Year.

— Chef Matt

21+ only. Cannabis is served only where legal, with products from licensed sources.