“I do like that our food is not infused, it’s somewhere everyone can come and eat,” said Funke. “My father smokes but my mother doesn’t so if I wanted to bring them in, my mom doesn’t need to get high. She’s going to get a contact high but she’s not going to choose to have a meal where she’s getting high.”

There’s a long path to a chef-prepared infused menu becoming legal, for now any food or beverage product must be prepared and packaged in a licensed facility, tracked and traced from seed to sale. Funke says a typical order would be for customers to sit at the bar, choose a THC-infused beverage like Two Roots’ non-alcoholic beer, a Cann social tonic, or a Keef Cola followed by some food, a pre-roll, and finally, a Kikoko Tea. The drinks are priced between $10–12 and contain anywhere from 2–10mg of THC per serving. Keef, Cann, and Two Roots all utilize nano-emulsified THC which creates a parallel onset time to alcohol (see an excerpt below from HNGRY’s new episode about the #futureofalcohol explaining this technology.)

HNGRY explains how nanoemuslified THC works in #futureofalcohol

“People are treating it almost as if they’re ordering a glass of wine or beer at the bar”

Lowell is designing a healthier alternative to traditional alcohol consumption not only from a caloric standpoint, but also a behavioral one as well. “I’ve worked forever in the bar scene. I know people tend to get more angry on alcohol than they do on cannabis,” said Funke. “A little slower, a lot more chill, everyone’s definitely kind, not argumentative.”

Funke says her team has formed good relationships with everyone in the community and wants them to be part of Lowell’s narrative. Across the street is Congregation Kol Ami, which dubs itself West Hollywood’s premier reform synagogue that’s “daring to be innovative while remaining rooted in Jewish tradition and practice,” according to its website.

“So if I come here to pregame shabbat…” I started to ask. “I think they’d encourage it,” she finished.

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