A couple Las Vegas chefs who worked at high-end Las Vegas Strip restaurants are now making products to get people high.
Camp has created the first solventless edibles in Nevada. Lorraine Blanco Moss talked with cannabis chefs Becky Kwan and Rick McCormick.
Did you ever think that you'd be taking your fine dining skills to edible production?
KWAN: You know, it's funny, because I didn't really think of it as something that was really feasible, you know, 10 years ago, really. But when I was in New York, and I was working at Nomad, I did have like this funny kind of little dream idea with some of my old coworkers. And we essentially were talking about going like, 'Oh, we should move to Colorado, we should make like a little bakery,' then like, there's a company that actually makes … donut pipes. And we're like, we should get these pipes and then you have a bakery, and you have glass doughnuts, that would be so fun kind of thing. And that was really one of those, 'Oh, we can only dream of it' type situations. … Now we're here. So it's kind of really cool to be able to … have some little dream and thought … come to flourish.
What's different or the same about working an edible chocolate line versus a traditional kitchen line?
MCCORMICK: Being in the production kitchen, it's not just like, we can just make these products and just leisurely like go about our day. We need to make these products and then we do we need to make 10,000 as soon as possible. The cool thing about the industry is our level of intensity is, you know, we bring to the a normal, professional kitchen, like out of the Strip or New York, whoever it may be that level of intensity transfers all. Because you know us as chefs, we know how to get a team motivated, we know how to get everyone on the same page and going in one direction. That's something that we're good at. And it does definitely translate here. You know, one of the things, we we still deal with the county and the health inspectors, but the other part of that is the [Cannabis Compliance Board]. Now the other part, the state that regulates the cannabis goods part. So you put those two together, we know there's a little bit more behind it.
How and where do you find inspiration for your flavor profiles?
KWAN: For the chocolate specifically, we were just trying to look for flavors that were approachable, but just slightly elevated. Like for example, the strawberry hibiscus, I was just thinking chocolate covered strawberries. But how can we make it a little bit different so when somebody tastes it, they'll be like, 'That's interesting and delicious.'
Hear the full interview above.
