This is one of my few meetings that I am able to do this,” says Chef Laurent Dagenais, as he light up a joint about 20 seconds after our morning Zoom. “I was thinking, you know what?” You might as well. Cannabis NowHe says this with his cheeky, boyish grin. This has helped him become a social media sensation in the world of food. When he puffs, Dagenais exudes an effortless charm. It’s no wonder he has almost four million followers on Instagram and TikTok. The cheffy It’s confidence without pretension or pretentiousness. That’s the type of self-assurance that has made Anthony Bourdain a legend and David Chang a celebrity chef.
Dagenais’ fun, lighthearted approach to fine dining ingredients and plated dishes turned the Montréal-based chef into somewhat of a celebrity—yet he clearly never takes himself too seriously. Dagenais is seen in his videos sabering Champagne bottles with kitchen knives and tossing ingredients around the kitchen. He also exhales heavy clouds of smoke. He’s not “a cannabis chef” despite his open love for pot. Instead, Dagenais is a chef with fine-dining training who enjoys marijuana and doesn’t hesitate to use it as part of the creative process.
Dagenais, however, is not one of those chefs who attributes their culinary passion to childhood cooking sessions with family. His roots are elsewhere. Dagenais says that his culinary roots were not planted by the Italian Nonna. Dagenais says he was unsure what to do after graduating from college and spent some time in a skate shop. He says his parents threatened to make him pay the rent from the salary he earned at a local skate shop. So he went to culinary school in order to find other opportunities.
The passion for him began then. The world was opened to me in terms of techniques and information. Dagenais was lured out of his skate shop by the intrigue and ended up working in a French Bistro, first as a waiter and later under the command of a famous French chef with an army brigade-style of cooking. Dagenais admits that he learned more from the job about cleaning than cooking. It helped me with my discipline, and I was able to keep the kitchen clean and well organized. Prior to that, I had been smoking pot and preferred partying over work. But it was as if I joined the army. “I spent a whole year in that job, and it made me much more disciplined both in my life and the kitchen.”
Dagenais began to focus on his new career and worked in many fine dining restaurants across Canada. He eventually landed at Araxi Restaurant – a culinary hotspot in Whistler, BC, an exclusive resort town. “I absolutely loved working there,” says Dagenais. The team was great, and we had all the ingredients. But then I broke my hand snowboarding. When? On 4/20, you guessed right! “I blame the weed,” says he, while laughing and relighting his joint. It was for me a turning point. “I was out of work, injured and did not know what to make of it.”
Dagenais, who was recovering, returned to cooking, this time in an entirely different setting, at a ski resort. The season pass and insurance convinced him to make the switch from serving foie gras nachos. I took the job but it killed my passion for food in a restaurant. “No one cared to organize the space or cook.
To reignite his passion, he tried bartending, moved from front-of-house to the back, and went to Thailand for a culinary adventure, which included tasting every type of chili. After returning to Canada, the chef was offered a position on the corporate team at a large restaurant group. He had a great salary, many perks and an ongoing job. He says, “I shouldn’t have been unhappy. I was.” “For me, it’s always been about cooking—but how can I be happy if I’m not cooking?”
Dagenais finds it a blessing that restaurants were closed around the globe by the pandemic in 2020. He started creating content, initially on YouTube, focusing on cannabis culinary, and then on Instagram, with cooking clips. “I realized that I liked the more straight-forward cooking videos, and I thought there might be something special about cooking. Without a doubt, “Weed,” he said. Together, he and his girlfriend began to edit and shoot videos that they would upload to Instagram. Eventually TikTok was added. “I was unsure of TikTok initially,” admits the man. “But, the video that was posted on the account first was a recipe for salmon gravlax. It was posted and I went to bed around 11pm. Next day my phone began to ping. Overnight, I went from 10 to 100,000 followers.”
Dagenais is now at his peak on social media. His content gets views and pays him, but he does it in an unabashed way. “I am not a fictional character,” Dagenais insists. “I’m not trying to be a white jacketed chef—I did that. I’m not the one. I am just enjoying myself, smoking weed and drinking wine. Part of my success is that I keep it very approachable—I’m not a chef in a crazy restaurant; I’m just a guy in a modest apartment using ingredients everyone can get their hands on.”
Dagenais still retains a certain authenticity, even though he uses cannabis more for inspiration than as the center of his cuisine. He says that he and Mary Jane are close friends. “I’ve never given up. For me, marijuana is a way of life. It’s always keeping me in good spirits, good vibes, making ideas flow—and it makes me hungrier,” he chuckles, with that signature grin spreading across his face as he inhales one final puff of his joint.
You’ll enjoy the new English edition of Chef Laurent Dagenais’s cookbook if you like what he does on his social media. Always Hungry!
He says, “It is my style as a book.” There’s something in it for everyone. Dagenais, who has 70 recipes in his book, was inspired to include everything for all home cooks. From soups and salads up to cocktails and sweets.
The book is a mix of me, my family, recipes and positive vibes.
This story was originally published in issue 49 of the print edition of Cannabis Now. Read it now on the Cannabis Now iTunes app.