5-Star Stoner: The Most Upscale Ways to Get High in LA

Maybe it’s a coincidence that one of the world’s best restaurant cities found a way to get some of the world’s best weed. But chefs have known for years that haute cuisine and getting high go really well together, and the city’s chef-driven cannabis supper clubs have become so popular that even Jonothan Gold has given them a try.

One of the best supper clubs in town is Pop Cultivate, run by scientist-turned-chef Chris Yang. His multi-course dinners feature experimental dishes and intricate plating worthy of Chef’s Table with marijuana-infused into the flavor profile of the food.

Brownies are a traditional delivery method, but if you don’t want a sugar high every time you get, well, high, chefs like LA’s Chicks With Knives hold cannabis cooking class that teach you how to make real food that will give you a buzz.

Available in public or private classes, they teach the right way to cook with cannabis to make dishes like the good stuff you can find on their Instagram page.

If you’re just visiting Los Angeles, you can still enjoy some parts of marijuana without a California State ID thanks to CBD. CBD is the part of marijuana that chills you out without the trippy “stoney” effects of marijuana’s other component THC, and several restaurants and bars in LA have been adding it to the menu for a mood-altering meal.

Spring in downtown Los Angeles is famous for their CBD Power Lunches  designed to send your day in different directions based on your selection. Have carrot-ginger soup to support calm, or bittersweet chocolate ganache with lemon honey sorbet that promotes bliss.

If liquid lunch is more your thing, they offer an extensive list of drinks that pair well with a shot of CBD (for around $5) that will not only mellow you out but decrease chances of a hangover.

As marijuana has become big business, the first marijuana franchises are popping up, and the high-end chain Med Men is the brand poised to be as ubiquitous (you can even find one on 5th Avenue) and iconic as Steve Jobs’.

These brick and mortar stores are also famous for their “geniuses” that can field any type of pot question–from “I need a lotion that will soothe my muscles after pilates” to “I need a vape pen that doesn’t smell like pot so I can keep my toking incognito”–and direct you to one (or several) products that fit your needs, beautifully displayed inside a backlit glass case.

A cannabis tasting is just like a wine tasting, but instead of whites and reds, there are indicas and sativas.

Grass Fed Los Angeles‘ curated cannabis events feature a vape bar for sampling flower strains and other herbs plus edibles that do more than give you a buzz. But their Taste Buds Event, “focuses on the taste and aroma of hand-picked terpenes, and will explore the relationship between our sense of smell, taste, and memories they form.”

To keep up with all of the events they throw–from burlesque to comedy to magic shows–keep up with their Instagram page.

For people into the spiritual aspects of yoga and marijuana, there are several studios in the city where these two types of zen meet.

Los Angeles’ Lit Yoga holds regular classes, each of which begins with a tea ceremony and a few shared joints designed to help you get deeper into your flow.

Alternative Herbal Health Services is the dispensary which inspired the Netflix show Disjointed. And now they specialize in selling Netflix-branded weed.

Customers can try strains like Banana Stand Kush, inspired by Arrested Development; Poussey Riot, inspired by Orange is the New Black; or Sassafrass OG, inspired by Lady Dynamite.

For a fun-filled trip down the rabbit hole where costumes are welcome, there’s White Rabbit High Teas.

These whimsical gatherings feature all of the decadent nibbles and decor find at a traditional high tea with enough THC to make the tea extra refreshing.

Sometimes, marijuana is series business. In Los Angeles, there are also social smoking scenes, like Cannabis Feminist, a holistic lifestyle marijuana collective focused on “transforming cannabis into a medicine + empowering women to lead the industry.”

This collective hosts periodic salons where women gather to discuss topics that range from using marijuana to increase your mojo to tips on eating mangoes to make euphoria last longer (a discussion you can catch on their episode of Queens of the Stoned Age).

For those not in Los Angeles, Cannabis Feminist also has a lifestyle website with articles like Microdosing to Manifest Finding My Soulmate at Burning Man, recipes like CBD Carrot Sunflower Pate Recipe, and products like herbal “moods” to sprinkle on cannabis to curate your experience.

If you don’t live in The Golden State, you may have spotted Merry Jane’s cannabis events at Art Basel, South by Southwest, or other events where they feature legal CBD products and a marijuana experience for states that have yet to legalize. In Los Angeles, Merry Jane can be spotted providing bud bars at Diplo and Calvin Harris’ party or bringing cannabis-infused cotton candy to Miley Cyrus’ birthday bash.

If you have the cash, they’ll bring the bud to your own private party to elevate your event.