By dessert, ‘You’re in outer space’: Chef Matthew Brehm caters multi-course cannabis-infused meals in the Valley
Published: 10-25-2024 11:46 AM |
A local chef is bringing a new meaning to the phrase “getting baked.”
Chef Matthew Brehm is the owner of Upscale Cannabis Wine Dinners, which provides catered brunches and dinners with weed-infused dishes. He operates out of western Massachusetts, but his radius extends throughout the state and northern Connecticut.
The evening of Friday, Oct. 18, Brehm was in a split-level house in a modest Springfield suburb for his second gig that week. As a soundtrack of pop and techno played nearby, he worked on the first course: handmade fresh stringozzi pasta with chard broccolini, Fresno chili pepper, fried shallots, and Parmesan “canna-butter,” paired with Foral Alvarinho wine. A group of guests waited downstairs at a table decorated with football-themed gel candles, fake leaves, and flowers.
His guests were a group of six friends, including a couple and a pair of siblings, who all declined to give their names or be photographed because most of them work in a nearby school. The group, also a trivia team, were veterans of Brehm’s cooking — some of them were part of the very first cannabis dinner he ever served. In fact, that evening was the third meal he’d cooked at that specific house.
The hostess had even kept the menus from the two previous meals. One, a dinner in December 2022, featured Korean barbeque cauliflower “canna-crepes,” homemade pasta with “lemon canna-mornay,” and almond crème brûlée with chocolate “canna-cake” and “canna-cookie crumb.” The other, a brunch in February of this year, featured “canna-lemon” scone muffins, “bourboned” mushroom and shallot bacon frittata, sumac-scented stuffed crepes, and “canna-banana-bread French toast.”
Prices vary depending on the length of the meal and the size of the group — a three-course meal costs $140 per person for two people or $110 per person for a group of six. Brehm also provides all the cutlery, plates, and napkins, and he takes care of the cleaning afterward, too. This is technically a side business for him — a busy month in this role involves five or six catered meals – his other job is as a part-time seasonal cook at a golf course, which he works to supplement his catering business.
While the group chatted downstairs, Curt, a longtime friend of Brehm’s who did not want to give his last name, was in the kitchen pouring six glasses of wine. Unlike Brehm, who studied at the now-shuttered Connecticut Culinary Institute in the early 2000s and has worked as an executive chef, Curt doesn’t have a culinary background (beyond “me and him worked in a pizza shop when we were teenagers”), but he and Brehm, he said, have “always been fascinated by food and/or drink.” Whenever Brehm needs an extra hand at a brunch or dinner, Curt steps in to help serve, clean, or whatever else helps the most.
As they worked, the oven was set to 420 degrees.
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“We always do that,” Brehm laughed, “to see how many people notice.”
Naturally, someone who books a weed-infused meal will want to know: how high do you actually get?
Brehm estimates one of his meals features 35 to 50 milligrams of cannabis, which come from infused oils and butters that Brehm makes himself. For the most part, the guests said, they couldn’t taste the cannabis element, nor could we smell it. Joints and edibles have a trademark pungency, but Brehm’s cannabis cooking is much more subtle, minus the obvious aftereffects. (As one guest put it: by dessert, “You’re in outer space.”)
Still, even in a weed-legal state, Brehm and his guests noted that consuming the drug (in any form) still comes with a stigma, hence their request to be anonymous. One of them said that if her students asked her if she drank alcohol, she’d say yes; if they asked if she smoked weed, she’d say no. After all, cooking with wine is a standard culinary practice; if Brehm were to use wine as a special ingredient in his dishes, he pointed out, “No one would think twice.”
In any case, a guest who requested the pseudonym “Zoe” said, Brehm’s food is great, weed-infused or not.
Brehm likes to give returning customers a few extras here and there: in this case, it was a peach schnapps lime granita, an off-the-menu palate cleanser similar to an Italian ice, served after the first course. He also didn’t charge the group extra for a beef dish, though he would’ve done so otherwise.
After Brehm finished preparing the second course — vindaloo braised beef short rib, served with cucumber, carrot, and snap pea slaw, celeriac puree, and chili threads, paired with Castello D’Alba — he took cellphone photos of the finished product. Afterwards came the dessert course: a “chocolate-canna lava cake,” inspired by a Joël Robuchon recipe, with wild berry sauce, candied walnuts, a “canna-cookie,” vanilla gelato, and mint dust, paired with espresso mudslides in glass jars.
So, how was it?
“That was really [expletive] good,” said Zoe. “I feel like he serves things that I wouldn’t necessarily ever order or ever think to make.”
The hostess agreed: with Brehm’s meals, she said, “I’ve never not wanted to finish my plate.”
The group didn’t yet have firm plans for another cannabis-infused meal, but they expect to get together for more in the future.
Brehm, too, has an idea for the future: he’d love to run a weed cafe, something like the ones in Amsterdam, where his business can be fully legal and public. Even so, running a catering business has some perks compared to working in a restaurant, he said — you always know how many customers you have, rather than waiting around for things to get busy, and you have more freedom to cook the dishes of your choice.
Brehm wrapped up around 9 p.m., two hours after the guests took their first sips of wine, though he’d been there even earlier than that. He had two more upcoming gigs on his calendar and expected to book more soon — the end of the year is when business picks up for him — but this dinner was complete, and the guests were high and happy. Before he and Curt stepped out the door, Brehm declared the evening a success: “Job well done.”
To contact or book Chef Brehm, send him a direct message via his Instagram: @upscale.cannabis.wine.dinners. As of this writing, he has amassed over 5,300 followers.
Carolyn Brown can be reached at cbrown@gazettenet.com.