CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: I’m saying, using cannabis
responsibly and in moderation allows you to achieve an overall healthier lifestyle than
what you’re living now without it.
COMM: Top chef Christopher Sayegh has worked
in Michelin starred kitchens and is acknowledged for his culinary excellence, but is now known
for one special ingredient that you will be very unlikely to find in any of the most renowned
restaurants.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: So I became curious about
cooking with cannabis after I started to dive in to the really the science behind cannabis
and what was going on with the body. So, it’s a coconut oil and it’s medicated to ten
milligrams per teaspoon.
COMM: Christopher carefully infuses cannabis
into every serving of his decadent ten course dinner, which costs up to $500 per person.
MAN: Definitely the first time trying food
infused with cannabis. I have eaten while high, but not infused in my meals.
MAN: I’m really looking forward to the full
experience. I’m just hoping that I feel it. That’s my only thing.
COMM: But his controversial career is a far
cry form where he was five years ago when he was training to be a doctor.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: I was actually at university
and decided to drop out. My family did not like what I was doing at all. They are very
traditional. To even leave school and not do medical school was a big deal. To become
a chef was a big deal and then, on top of that cannabis.
COMM: Through his studies, Christopher discovered
some of the medicinal benefits of cannabis and decided to combine his two passions.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: So through my studies
I figured out that one, cannabis can be literally used for anything. I mean it’s insane - the
medicinal side is so vast that it blows me away.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: I have trusted partners.
Everything that I get is from a lab. Everything is lab-tested and then they send it over to
me already activated so I can add it into my food.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: So, it you wafted in, you actually experience that aroma.
MAN: If I wasn’t told, I would have been
like, ‘Wow!’, you know, and if I was told afterwards about it, “Oh! I didn’t even notice.”
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: I’d describe these experiences
as cerebral experiences. To me it differs greatly from getting just stoned on your couch.
One - you’re eating amazing food, and two - I’m really playing a symphony with everybody’s
psyche. So, as they eat the first course, they are gonna receive a little lift. It’s
a gentle push with each course, so that they stay in this plateau of euphoria.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: So, it’s very very simple,
very light, getting you ready for dessert.
MAN: You know, obviously, the cannabis infusion’s
in there, but just the entire night you felt the progression throughout the evening.
You know, we kind of all started out slow and we started opening up. One of my favourite
dining experiences for sure.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: One of the worst experiences
that you can have with cannabis is eating too much. So, that is something that I’m
direly trying to avoid.
MAN: I’ve probably tried to make edibles
over a hundred times myself, but I can never do something so well at it. Everyone just
feels perfect and that’s why people like Chris are changing the world by finding the
right balance and then executing it on the table.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: So, we’re expanding
in a very big way. Herb is coming in 2017 which is gonna be the first cannabis restaurant
in the world. I think there is absolutely gonna be more competition now it is legal.
I’m setting the standard for anybody that comes after me. No, you’re going to put
them on the wall.
CHRISTOPHER SAYEGH: In my opinion, cannabis
really has a place in this world to change it for the better and to change it monumentally.