On a beautiful, warm summer evening in Downtown Seattle, Washington, I along with other adults from the community, joined for Sunday Fellowship-a pop-up private dining experience created and hosted by Chef Unika Noiel.
While it’s rare to find southern soul food being served on menus at upscale restaurants, and even at dinner parties, especially in the Pacific Northwest, Chef Noiel embraces her love for southern cuisine and even adds her own twist to soul food favorites. What’s the twist? Well, cannabis, of course.
Through her love for cooking, Chef Noiel is helping to bridge the growing gap between community and the cannabis industry, all while paying homage to her culinary roots and family history in the process.
In an exclusive interview with EstroHaze, Chef Noiel discusses what inspired her to start hosting pop-up cannabis-infused soul food events, how she pursued her passion for cooking and made her dream of becoming a chef reality, and what the future holds for Fellowship.
Before adult-use dispensaries, medical marijuana shops operated throughout Washington. At the time Chef Noiel would attend MMJ patient events held across various cannabis dispensaries. During these events Chef Noiel would set up booths to sample and sell her homemade edibles to patients.
In attending these events and meeting like minded cannabis enthusiasts, Chef Noiel began having more and more discussions with people about cannabis-infused options other than desserts. Witnessing surprised looks on people’s faces when she explained that cannabis could be infused into savory edibles and even whole dishes, Chef Noiel knew she could be onto something.
“People would be like ‘what do you mean you have cannabis-infused flour? I thought the only way to infuse cannabis into food was with butter,’” she explains. “I always wanted to give people who use medical marijuana options beyond brownies, cookies, and other sweets. I got into making savory edibles, started making whole dishes, and then it turned into complete 5-course meals.”
From there, her brand LUVN Kitchn was born. “L-U-V-N are actually my initials. LUVN Kitchn expresses my culinary history-from my family, the foods I grew up eating and don’t see much often, to foods that I still enjoy today and know others will too,” says Chef Noiel. “It’s important to me that I hold onto these pieces of my culture.”
Food has played a huge role in Chef Noiel’s family for generations, especially southern soul food. “I grew up cooking. I had uncles that owned restaurants and I would always watch my grandfather and grandmother cook. No matter what I was doing in life, I was always cooking.”
Although Chef Noiel was always cooking it took her some time to realize becoming a chef and sharing her love for food with others was her true calling. Chef Noiel went to school for broadcast production and theater arts/drama. But even then she loved to fellowship with classmates and peers. “Whenever there was a meeting or gathering and I had the chance to have people over my house and cook for them, that was where I was happiest.”
After graduating from college, Chef Noiel started a job at a video production company where she worked for 5 years, before working for the City of Seattle for another 6 years until she realized she wasn’t happy in her career and eager for a change.
“I forced myself to think long and hard about what it was that I really wanted to do with my life,” Chef Noiel shares. “One of the questions that I like to pose to people when they’re struggling is, if money were no object for you, what is in this life that you would do for free? For me, that thing was cooking. So, I quit my job and went to culinary school,” she continued.
Infused pork rinds @plsnomatata
Chef Noiel quickly admits, however, that leaving her career in government to enroll into culinary school was one of the most challenging things she’s ever done. “I definitely don’t recommend doing it without a lot of forethought and planning, but it’s been very rewarding. Each day is different. Cooking is something that I love, enjoy, and have a passion for. It keeps me going. People’s feedback motivates me too-it makes me feel like I’m doing what I should be doing with my life.”
Chef Noiel held her very first Fellowship about a year ago. “I’ve always wanted to do cannabis infused dinners, but I had a difficult time finding a space to do them because of all the legalities and federal conflict with cannabis,” she says.
Each of the 5-course dishes served during Fellowship contain approximately 2-5 mg of THC per serving and although the menu changes every event, soul food will always be the core of Fellowship. The menu is inspired by guests requests and food that is both local and seasonal..
“There are a lot of things that I’ve been experimenting with over the years that people have commented on, asked me about, or wanted to try. So, I’ve been trying to do a couple of those requests with every dinner, but I also look at what’s in season. Because I’m from the Pacific Northwest, my cuisine is a fusion of northwest and southern soul food.”
During culinary school, Chef Noiel would often get asked, “What’s your cuisine?” or “What’s your signature dish?”
“I spent time trying to figure out the dish or cuisine that would impress people. Honestly, it took me a little while to come to terms with the fact that soul food is really it for me. It’s a cuisine that I do really well and enjoy making. I get satisfaction out of having a group of people around that I can feed and have that Sunday-dinner type of experience with. For me, that’s where the fellowship comes in. It’s just a gathering of people who are there to enjoy a family-style southern soul food experience.”
infused sweet corn and black eyed-pea succotash @luvnkitchn
While Chef Noiel currently only hosts her Fellowship pop-up dining events in the Greater Seattle community, she hopes to expand Fellowship to other communities in the near future.
“I’ve been approached by a couple of people about doing a Fellowship in other cities,” she explains. “I’m open to traveling and would like to continue to make Fellowship an event that people look forward to attending, even if they don’t necessarily want to consume cannabis. The soul food aspect of the private dining experience still appeals to people.”
Final Word:
“I miss the community that existed when Washington State had medical marijuana dispensaries. You could go to Have A Heart dispensary and spend time with MMJ patients and other like-minded individuals. I believe that sense of community is what’s missing now in the adult-use cannabis market and it’s another reason why I look forward to doing Fellowship—to bring that sense of community back to the cannabis industry.”
Follow Chef Unika Noiel’s Instagram to see more of her delicious cannabis- infused creations and stay up-to-date on when the next Fellowship pop-up event is.
