Green House Kitchen is the best example of the new weed culture that's starting to develop in The Netherlands: haute cuisine for cannabis lovers. But there's no smoking allowed in this restaurant, only vaping. This way, customers can get high without inhaling the unhealthy residues of the burning plant.Green House Kitchen is located next to an outpost of what is probably the most famous chain of koffeeshops (hubs for smoking weed) in the country, called Greenhouse. The restaurant is managed by Celester Roskam, Ajan Roskam's daughter. Roskam is an international weed celebrity, made famous by documentaries about his hunt for cannabis seeds. Arjan wanted to be involved in his daughters dream of starting a restaurant, and Green House Kitchen is the final result.
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You can buy the weed you'll be smoking at dinner down the street at one of Amsterdam's famous koffe shops. All photos by the author.
Before the idea of vaporizing was introduced, for a long time, the father and daughter disagreed about how smoking weed would fit into the culture of the restaurant. "I just didn't like the idea of everyone smoking inside," Celester explains. She didn't want to run a restaurant where even the people who choose to avoid smoking weed could accidentally get a contact high from hanging around the fumes for an extended period of time.Thankfully, vaping takes care of that issue. "It really completed the healthy concept I had in mind," says Celester. "This way, we could also put spices on the table that really complement the meal when you vape them." When launching the restaurant, she really emphasized the "healing powers of herbs" and combining flavors in a unique way.
The restaurant doesn't sell weed, but brining your own isn't a problem.
Weed's role in the restaurant philosophy is a bit ambiguous: on one hand, combining vaporizing with eating is encouraged by the restaurant owners, and they're not allowed to sell weed to customers who would like to smoke on premises.Vaping herbs is an option for diners who aren't interested in getting high. You can choose between chamomile and rosemary at the table, but adding your own stash of White Widow or Lemon Kush completes the experience.
Derrick Bergman, journalist and spokesperson for an organization that aims to get the ban on cannabis lifted, tries a vaporizer.
Enjoying a salmon carpaccio should have been the easiest thing I'd done all week, but the vaporizer that my dining companions kept pushing into my mouth made it nearly impossible to properly analyze the taste of the food at the restaurant. Going out to dinner while high is a great idea, but having to write a culinary review after the experience is a challenge.
Green House Kitchen is settling into a niche that is still very much in development. Celester barely smokes weed, but thinks "it's smells so very delicious," "When someone lights a joint next to me, I always find it very cozy," she says.
In a country with such a rich cannabis culture, a restaurant like Green House Kitchen is a welcomed addition. The place has, perhaps without even knowing it, tapped into a new way of thinking around this ancient, intoxicating herb.