Seattle Chef Is Making Soul Food Infused with Marijuana

Unika Nioel dedicates her days to making marijuana-infused edibles. She spent 9 years doing research and now has her own business, Luvn Kitchn. The company holds “fellowship dinners” that are invitation only.

At the dinners, the meal features soul food enhanced with marijuana, Seattle Weekly reports. In the fried chicken entrée, Nioel uses marijuana infused flour. It’s also used for sweet applications.

Regarding her food journey, Nioel said, “My grandparents are from Louisiana and I grew up eating a lot of soul food and Southern food. I had uncles who owned barbecue restaurants and a grandmother who went to culinary school.”

Although she’d worked in several other restaurants and food service settings, her heart remained with marijuana and edibles. She explores the recreational purpose of marijuana and the medicinal values through food.

After several trials and errors, Nioel wanted to boost the potency of her marijuana-infused foods by using Rick Simpson Oil (or RSO as those in the industry refer to it as).

She said, “I started getting weird phone calls. I got good feedback from people. I’d talk to them about what’s wrong and suggest a certain cookie to have for, like, their colitis.”

Nioel is the head chef at Che Sara Sara but runs two businesses as well. She’s become the premier marijuana-infused soul food chef in the Seattle area.

To find out about upcoming Luvn Kitchn events, and perhaps secure an invite, follow the company on both Facebook and Instagram.

Regarding how her business is doing, Nioel said, “Everything’s going well. And I’m enjoying the challenge.”

One of the recent gatherings featured marijuana-infused Andouille sausage and seafood boil.

About that dish, she said, “We dumped the crawfish and gulf prawns out on the table and of course we infused butter.”

It’s taken a bit of practice, but she’s got the proper dosages down now.

She said, “I’m always afraid people won’t feel like they got their money’s worth. But I’ve dialed things in and dialed things back – though there are still plenty of ways to enhance your meal.”

Nioel hopes the future brings opportunities for her fellowship dinners to grow. She hopes that, a year or more from now, that the community will tighten.

She said, “I miss the sense of community that I had back when I was hanging out in medical dispensaries. I miss talking to people about their journeys. I’d like to bring some of that back.”