cannabisnews.com: Afghan 1999? What a Classy Joint ...





Afghan 1999? What a Classy Joint ...
Posted by CN Staff on September 08, 2002 at 15:05:35 PT
By David Lancaster
Source: Times Online UK
Picture the scene: an upmarket restaurant. A smart, thirtysomething couple finish off the trio of crème brûlées, and the waiter casually reaches for what looks like an expensive cigar box and approaches the table. “Coffee? And shall I leave our selection with you for a moment?” “Yes, that would be lovely,” says the man. “I’m afraid we’re out of the Moroccan Gold you asked for when you booked,” says the waiter.
“But I can recommend the Afghan 1999 vintage.” Welcome to the brave new world of the upmarket cannabis café – or more accurately, the cannabis restaurant. If your image of such establishments is one of seedy dens with backpacks strewn across the floor and patronised by stoned locals and pale-looking British lads out on a stag weekend, think again. Simon Woodroffe, the founder and chairman of the Yo! Sushi chain, and one of the first to discuss the idea of cannabis cafés publicly, says: “Our target market will be men in suits relaxing after work, along with the hipper media crowd. We’ll do it our way — not the way it’s done in the Netherlands.” So, what can we expect? And what exactly is wrong with the way it’s done in the Netherlands? After all, whether you favour relaxation of the cannabis laws or not, it is clear that the Dutch have led the way in a thorough, if not altogether glamorous, fashion. And it is the reports of planned cafés, based on the Dutch “coffee-shop” model, that have hit the headlines. The most famous is the Dutch Experience Café, which opened in Stockport last year. Raids have become something of a regular feature for the owner, James Ward, as police try to enforce muddied law. By next July, it was reported this week, people caught once or twice with cannabis for personal use will be allowed to hand over the drug, accepting a formal warning. But if they are caught for a third time in 12 months, they face heavier penalties. Ward, though, is unrepentant: “I am not worried about going to jail. So long as when I come out the café is still open.” But not far behind the likes of Ward is a more sophisticated, group who are not in the business of spearheading a “movement”, still less going to jail for their right-to-smoke principles. They are businessmen, waiting “for a market to mature”. “Like many people, I’ve been to Amsterdam, and it seems a shame that it is done in such a tacky way,” Woodroffe says. He believes that while a cannabis bar or restaurant would still “be a specialist place to go”, there would be none of the seediness of dealers and criminals. “We would launch smart, clean places for people to go and smoke in moderation.” Woodroffe’s idea involves fresh, café-style food enjoyed by a social mix “that welcomes anybody. The rest of the restaurant industry is still hiding behind the doors a bit on this,” he says. “But there will be more people coming through as the legislation eases. The first in will be the politically incorrect middle classes.” That is a group Trevor Gulliver knows well. As co-owner of St John, an award-winning London restaurant that specialises in offal, Gulliver and his chef, Fergus Henderson, have won a loyal customer base by serving what few other venues would put on the menu: pigs’ ears, trotters and marrowbone. He believes that taking dope away “from the studenty thing, with loads of loud music” is a logical step, though he is not sure he would open a café or restaurant himself. “But there are plenty of older people who would enjoy the chance to smoke a spliff after a nice meal,” he says. “You’d treat it like cigars – a bit specialist and maybe not to everyone’s taste, but if customers took a proper regard of others around them, then fine.” Tom Conran, owner of The Cow, Tom’s Delicatessen and the Lucky Seven Diner in Notting Hill, West London, agrees. “A few quiet little places where people could smoke would enhance our quality of life greatly,” he says. But the son of Sir Terence Conran, the man who has done more to bring upmarket dining to the public than almost anyone else, balks at anything too upmarket. “It’s fine if some people were to do something very posh, but I wouldn’t do that. Everyone should have the chance to enjoy it – upmarket or not.” However tempting the possibility of having a choice between a quiet, unpretentious Tom Conran establishment or the first of a mini-chain of lively Yo! Blows for a smoke, it is all still a few years off. Woodroffe, for one, is prepared to wait. “It is still a political football, so we won’t do anything until it is all above board.” That, however, wasn’t good enough for a couple who marched into Yo! Sushi a few weeks ago, having heard of Woodroffe’s provisional plans. “They demanded to be served some dope there and then,” he says. “And when they were told we didn’t sell it, that it was just a plan at the moment, they got rather cross.” Simply spliffing: what to expect Long waiting times: If diners have had a smoke, you could be waiting hours for a decision. “I’ll have the pasta. Oh, no, I mean the sushi; well maybe the house salad. What do you think, waiter dude?” The grub: Light, highly flavoured comfort food — smoking cannabis heightens the senses of smell, taste and touch. Ribs would go down well, as would the deep and earthy taste of asparagus, with melted butter for the drizzle factor and shaved parmesan for bite. Leaving: The other main challenge, of course, will be moving customers from the tables. Groups of giggling, chilled-out punters will need something special to raise them from just “one more small joint and a drink”. The solution: an ultra-comfy smoking room, with leather chairs and the best air-conditioning money can buy.  Note: David Lancaster imagines the cannabis café of the future.Source: Times Online (UK)Author:  David LancasterPublished: September 07, 2002Copyright: 2002 Times Newspapers Ltd.Contact: debate thetimes.co.uk Website: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/Related Articles & Web Site:Dutch Experiencehttp://www.dutchexperience.org/Cannabisness: Springing Uphttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13966.shtmlStockport Goes Dutchhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13522.shtmlCannabis Cafe Chains To Open in Britainhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13489.shtmlCannabis Entrepreneurs Go Dutch http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread12482.shtml 
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