Xzibit: It’s the Lasagna Ganja podcast with Mr. X to the Z Xzibit.

Tammy: And it’s ya girl Tammy, a.k.a. the Cannabis Cutie.

Xzibit: Today we Travis the Nomad Cook. Travis pops up all over the US doing chef’s work…GOD’s work.

Tammy: All over the globe, really.

Xzibit: Absolutely. And he has made it a point to say that he is from Canada. So… shoutout Canada, eh?

Travis: Haha, absolutely.

Xzibit: So, here we go. Welcome to the Lasagna Ganja podcast.

Travis: Thanks for having me, I’m really excited to be here. This is cool.

Xzibit: So how long have you been down here from Canada?

Travis: My wife and I moved down here at the start of the pandemic, because all of a sudden we couldn’t work in Canada with all of the tight restrictions.

That first summer we worked within the gray spaces. I got a sponsor to rent an RV and we toured the country doing 37 dinners outdoors, which is because inside we couldn’t have more than 8 people. So I said fine, let’s do it outside.

Xzibit: That was so stupid. The restrictions, they made no sense.

Travis: My wife is from Arizona, and when we went down that first winter there was no restrictions, no masks, it was normal life. My mother in law asked if we wanted to move down here, and we did. So in 2021 we shifted down from Canada and kinda started over here in the US.

Xzibit: Do you like the decision you made, or do you regret it?

Travis: It was nerve-racking. In Canada, there’s 1 or 2 cannabis chefs that are doing food at this level. There was 6 major cities that I worked in, and I’m in 24 cities down here. Now I’m getting to travel to places like New York, San Francisco and Chicago. It’s surreal.

Xzibit: Yeah, but no free healthcare! Haha!

Travis: I know. It’s funny, because Canada and America are so similar…right?

Xzibit: Are they?! I don’t know about that. People in Canada are fucking nice. I don’t know what America you’re living in, but I don’t get Canada when I go to South Beach!

Travis: Well my cousins, our parents were a little different and we grew up with some different values. But we are still the same family.

I think I understand America a lot more now that I’m down here and traveling everywhere.

I don’t think everybody is as divided as we are being told we are.

Xzibit: You’re motherfucking wrong about that!

Tammy: Yeah, I would say go to Michigan. That’s right next to Canada, right? Go to Wayne county, and then go to Oakland county.

Xzibit: Go to Alabama!

Tammy: Or Mississippi!

Travis: That’s what I mean. When I go to places like St Louis, I think I understand why people are so angry. People have been forgotten about and it’s very clear why they don’t believe in the system.

But also, I’ve come down here and bought into working as hard as you can and making what you want out of it. Last year was the busiest of my life, we did 102 dinners in 11 months.

Xzibit: Let’s back it up a little bit. How did you get into culinary arts to begin with?

Travis: That’s an interesting story, because I’ve never worked in a restaurant or gone to culinary school. I worked in the oil and gas industry for 14 years, until 2015 when I jokingly tried out for the TV show Master Chef.

I got on, but was eliminated on the second episode which only gave me about 3 minutes of air time. Right after the filming, a recession hits. I got laid off, got a severance package, and I just said “fuck it. I’m 31, let’s give this chef thing a shot.”

I spent the first year and a half finding my way, and then I did the first cannabis dinner. It was 2018, 4/20 was rolling around, and Canada was allegedly legalizing cannabis in a few months.

Xzibit: Did you consume before that?

Travis: Yeah. Coming from Vancouver, cannabis was in our culture. It was always a part of everything. I was never really cooking with it though, only smoking. I was a blunt man. Then, with Canada legalizing in 2018, I turned my house into a pop up restaurant for the 4/20 weekend. I had 164 people come thru over 4 days.

Xzibit: Dope! Before you get too far ahead, what did you do as an oil worker?

Travis: I was a business development manager.

Xzibit: Oh so you weren’t out there fucking with the drill or getting sprayed on, right?

Travis: No. A lot of my success in culinary comes from my background in sales and business. I do all of my own promo and sales. I’ve never even been to any of the cities that I work in.

Like, I’m going to Cleveland next month and I’ve already sold 2 nights out. So I understand the sales aspect. I’m very ambitious and I just found my purpose.

Xzibit: Okay, let’s pick this back up from where you were. So you started basically because this is what you love to do.

Travis: Yeah. When I did that first cannabis pop up, I didn’t want to be called just a cannabis chef. Because in my head I knew that was going to be a fad with cannabis becoming legal, and it will kind of fizzle out into this very niche market.

But, to date I’ve served over 15,000 people and the average age is 39. I was anticipating young 20 year old males as my clientele, which was not who I really wanted to cook for. But 39 is my average age and 58 percent of my clients are female.

I had almost 900 first time cannabis users come to my dinner. We really tapped into that demographic: 55 years old or older, who ten years ago would never consider it.

We’ve created a very culinary focused space. I even dose everybody individually based on their own tolerance level.

Xzibit: How do you find that out?

Travis: I have a sliding scale that goes 1 to 5—5 mg, 10 mg, 25 mg, 50 mg, and 100 mg. All my guests sit down and I have a speech that I use to explain this.

Let’s say I have a four course menu. Every course will have 1 infused component to it, and that I will then make 4 times. Once with no cannabis, once with a low amount of cannabis, then medium, then high.

I do that for every course. Unfortunately, I could really use that math class that I used to skip to smoke weed. A lot of people have similar tolerance levels, so there’s like a pattern to figure out.

Xzibit: Well, not me. I’m a mutant.

Tammy: Yeah, he would do the 100 mg plate.

Travis: We call that the Koala Dose, after Koala Puffs. Because she came and ended up taking 700 mg I believe.

Tammy: Shoutout to Angela. That’s very believable.

Travis: When the guests come in, I only tell them that scale to 100. But if I’m coming around the table and you ask me for more, we will give it to you.

If you say you want the Koala Dose, I’m going to give it to you because I’m going to ASSUME that you know what you’re asking for.

I don’t say anything about going that high because we have so many people coming in who have a 5 mg tolerance and are nervous, and they’re sitting next to a person ordering the Koala Dose.

So we have a system to make sure everybody is getting the proper dose on their plate. We have served groups as small as a dozen all the way up to 100 people.

That’s one of my goals, because as I didn’t know where I was going with this, I’ve had the best time of my life. I met my wife doing this, I got to move to the US and tour Europe doing this. So I’m fulfilled in a lot of those areas.

Xzibit: So why don’t you want to be first? Why don’t you want to be called a cannabis chef? Because nobody has come and put a flag in the ground yet.

Travis: Well, I’m so proud to say that’s what I am. At first I didn’t want to because I just thought this was going to be a fad.

Xzibit: But you’ve got to own it! You’re the fucking Gordon Ramsay of this shit!

Travis: As soon as I did that first group, I said to my team we need to engage these people because they have nothing in common.

They did not need us. It didn’t matter that they were from different walks of life and different ages. Everyone shares that experience of breaking bread around a table, and cannabis just adds to that sharing aspect.

That’s what inspired me in the beginning to know that there’s something here with this. I want to help the next generation of chefs do this in a restaurant instead of renting Airbnb’s and having underground dinners.

We’re going to move this into the mainstream, and I think chefs are the best people to be doing it because we’re meticulous. If I green somebody out, they’re not coming back. Especially if they have a low tolerance, then I’ve just proved to them that the food is horrible and is for stoners.

Xzibit: Well it is! Get the fuck off the field if you’re scared to get hit, bitch! Haha.

Tammy: Well, people usually hate edibles because they had a bad experience. So you’re bringing in a lot of new first-timers. Since we value education so much on this show, how do you educate the newbies about what’s about to happen to them?

Travis: Well with a lot of our guests, we’ve really built a reputation which is why a lot of first-timers come in.

We explain it to them like this: if you’ve never done this before we are going to start you on about 2 and a half mg and about 10 mg of CBD. CBD is really important. A lot of edibles have been sprayed with pure isolated THC, and everything I do is full spectrum.

Tammy: Can you explain that to the audience? We have lot of new cannabis people who are listening.

Travis: Absolutely. When I first started, I was using an isolated THC that I could drop on top of the food so that I could know precisely how many mgs I’m giving to each person. Just pure THC. For anybody with a low tolerance, that’s where that spike in anxiety and paranoia comes from.

So when I’m creating these menus, my objective isn’t to get the most THC out of this plant. My focus is actually on how I can utilize the terpenes to create this arc of experience.

Tammy: So, terpenes…?

Travis: Terpenes are not just the flavor and aroma of cannabis. They’re also responsible for the effects that we feel when we use it, and their compounds are identically found in plants and herbs.

So when I’m looking at the terpene profile of a strain that I want to build a recipe from, I’ll start looking at what plants, fruits and herbs match with that.

We don’t want to start with the sedative myrcenes at the start of the menu and zonk everybody out by course 2. I want my table to be chatty and energetic.

Tammy: So for our listeners to understand, THC is a molecule. No matter, what it’s going to be the same molecule and its going to typically act the same in your body. What’s going to make it different is the terpene or terpenes that are paired with it.

So linalool is going to be found in lavender and is typically calming. Myrcene can be found in mangos and is also very relaxing. That’s what Travis means when he says terpenes. THC is always the same and has no scent, which is why dogs can’t tell the difference between THC and CBD.

Shoutout to the police departments who haven’t figured that out yet!

Travis: I will have to say, the dogs at the airport this morning started jumping when we walked by and I’ve never been more worried in my life.

Xzibit: Do you travel with cannabis?

Travis: No, I won’t within the states. I can’t go from state to state, because in every state that I work in there will be a brand who will sponsor me and supply me with their cannabis.

So we’re like a unique marketing platform for brands when we promote their strains.

Xzibit: When you’re traveling from state to state where it’s legal, I think it’s okay.

Travis: Within the state, yeah, but I can’t go from Seattle to New York.

Tammy: Why not? They’re both legal.

Travis: Well once you’re in the air, it becomes federal. I follow all the rules in the USA.

Xzibit: Oh, Canadian! I forgot! You’re not a true American until you don’t give a fuck.

Travis: I know that in Canada you could have an ounce in your pocket, and you just put it through the detector at the airport.

Tammy: LAX and other California airports are cool with it. If you have a lot, the cops will make sure you have the legal amount. They don’t care in California.

Travis: I finished doing dinners in Little Rock last year, so I’ve started going down south to states where medical is legal.

We work with medical patients who will bring me their medicine to use in the food. We follow the rules because this is such a good thing we’re doing. Yes, we have to push some boundaries, but we also can’t push things too far.

This year I’m developing an online masterclass to teach both chefs and home cooks the fundamentals of safety, the different extraction methods, etc. For instance, 70 percent of the time I do not decarb at all.

Tammy: Decarbing is important because it activates the THC. When you’re holding a nug, you’re holding mostly THCa. It’s the heating process that turns it into THC. So ideally you put the THCa on a tray and bake it into THC. But you’re saying that you don’t use decarbing?

Travis: If all you have is your oven, then I understand using what you have. If I have a weak strain and all I want to do is get the most THC out of it, then I will decarb.

But if I have a strain that a grower put a lot of effort into, I don’t want to just blast that with heat. I actually learned this from a chef out of New York, who passed away from lung cancer a couple years ago.

He started cooking with cannabis and had an underground club. When I went to work with him I noticed that he would just put his flower directly into the butter and oil. When i asked him why, he said “just watch, it will make it taste better.” So I really studied that method. Once we start to apply too much heat to any green herb, we start to damage it.

It goes from green to brown and we start to accentuate the chlorophyll. If you eat an edible and taste weed, you’re tasting the chlorophyll which means that it hasn’t been cooked right.

Xzibit: Well then I fail, because my shit tastes like pure flower!

Travis: I’ll never go above 200 Fahrenheit, that’s the ceiling. Then it’s all about using time. There are also gadgets out there that can be used to do a passive decarb.

Xzibit: I still don’t understand. So why didn’t you want to be labeled a cannabis chef? You’ve got to own it!

Tammy: I think what he meant was it was just being legalized and he didn’t want to be on the bandwagon.

Travis: Right. But within a couple weeks of those first dinners, I knew that this is is what I wanted to do.

Xzibit: Be the Gordon Ramsay of Cannabis! I want to see a nomad restaraunt and full menu, because I’ll be eating there all the time!

Travis: Well let me know when you’re ready so I can make you your own dose!

Xzibit: So you have done this all over the world. If you could open the first restaurant somewhere, what city would it be in?

Travis: Well, it SHOULD be Las Vegas. But the casinos want nothing to do with cannabis. I guess it doesn’t have to be in the casinos, but in Vegas that’s where all the people are.

I think we are going to see culinary cannabis take off the most within professional athletes. We saw how the NBA and MLB changed their stance on cannabis.

We can create recipes that would be super beneficial for these athletes, pertaining to things like injury prevention/recovery and sleep. Now we just need the NFL to get on board.

Xzibit: Tammy, you’re the one with the NFL knowledge. Do you think it could happen?

Tammy: I’m teaming up with NFL athletes and trying to help, because the NFL is basically a pill mill. They use pills to treat pain and anxiety and things like that. These players need natural remedies, because their brains are non-normal. They have things like traumatic brain injury, PTSD, etc.

The NFL is a business, and when the players are given pills they’re also being charged by their insurance. Cannabis prescriptions would take so much from that, so I don’t know if they will come around or not.

They did change the threshold so you can consume more. You really only need to pass your drug test for Spring Training before training camp, and then if you pass you don’t get tested throughout the season until you exit.

If you fail, you’ll be put in a program and tested twice a week during the whole season.

Travis: It’s so cool to be on the forefront of all this. As states turn legal we will go there. I’m just going to continue doing this safely and showing people that it can be done right so that it will continue to grow.

We served 30 people in Amsterdam, 50 in London, 30 in Brighton and 100 in Paris. Even though we could only use CBD in Paris, we have progressed so much compared to how it was not too long ago.

Tammy: My cannabis book club that I did at Soho House couldn't be TOO advertised…

Travis: I work with North American Soho House, and in march we’ll be touring through 5 of their properties for members only. This will include the LA property and THC will be included.

Last year after I released my cookbook I got to go to the Miami Soho. That was the beginning and from there I was invited to do more of their properties.

From there, a representative from the London property attended an event and loved it so much that I was invited overseas. It was cool because in London they don’t know the difference between indica and sativa, it’s all just illegal over there.

Xzibit: Did you use THC in London, or just CBD?

Travis: We actually did both. Like i said it was amazing because when I started this, I was happy with just going to Montreal and Toronto. Now to be cooking down here and all over the place, to be sitting here talking with you guys, it’s all been such a trip and the reward has actually been in the journey.

Xzibit: Do you do private dinners?

Travis: Yes, I do private events. In 2022, I was mainly working with brands. In 2023 with the shift from Canada to here, I had to solely switch to myself.

So I set my own tours and sell my own tickets on Instagram. I flew 137,000 miles last year just constantly touring. I’ve had a little break from traveling recently and that has been nice.

Xzibit: So if somebody wanted to book you to cook at their private home, what would that cost?

Travis: So I have a starting rate that is designed as if you have 12 people. That would be about $3,500 to $4,000, plus travel accommodations.

It’s possible that I’m booked up 6 months out. For pop-up events, if I come to your city that would cost you from $150 to $200.

Xzibit: That’s like independent rap numbers. You can make a living off that!

Travis: When it comes to touring, I heard a saying once that said “every city is just another hotel room.” That’s so true, it can get lonely and I don’t have the energy to stay up past 9 when I’m on the road.

I have a young kid from Kansas City that I brought on to travel with me, and he is super ambitious. He’s been a huge help and it's been great forming a team. Our goal is to share what we’ve learned with the future generation to help them out and set some standards.

Xzibit: Have you ever had anybody have an adverse effect at one of your dinners?

Travis: When I first started, yeah. But over the last few years it’s been pretty accurate.

Xzibit: What did they do? Did they freak out?

Travis: Well what we used to do is rent Airbnbs to host our dinners. There have been times when I will walk out of the Airbnb 3 hours after the service, and I will see 3 or 4 people just sitting in their cars in front of the house because they are too high to drive!

Which surprised me sometimes because we don’t serve alcohol and we also have certain rules that we follow, such as no peer pressure. If your tolerance is 2 mg, then that is what you’re going to get. We really try to set a standard for safety. So if you come to one of our dinners, please plan for a safe ride home.

Xzibit: How can people get in touch with you?

Travis: The best way is to follow me on Instagram, which is @the_nomadcook. Everything happens on Instagram. All of my dinners are promoted there and you have to ask for a link in order to get a ticket to come.

We are going to be all over the US this year and trying to make it to Thailand by the end of the year.

Xzibit: I feel you man. Own this shit!

Travis: I also brought you guys something, for Tammy’s birthday and of course I couldn’t leave X out! These are the beautiful green canvas aprons that my team wears.

And also one of my hats! I really appreciate you guys having me. What a great start to the year, and I’m so grateful for your support.

Xzibit: We appreciate you, man. We wish you success on all of your endeavors, and I can’t wait to see the nomad restaraunt in your city of choice.

Travis: Let’s do it!

Xzibit: Alright this has been the Lasagna Ganja podcast, I’m Mr X to the Z Xzibit…

Tammy: And I’m Tammy, a.k.a. the Cannabis Cutie.

Xzibit: And we will see you on the next episode. We appreciate you guys.