One evening early last December, some 20 dinner guests sat at a candlelit table in a converted Logan Square factory loft eating carnitas with red mole infused with NYC Sour Diesel, a strain of cannabis known for its relaxing, euphoric effects. Next came chilaquiles with kale salsa, soubise crema, roasted mushrooms, and smoked habanero cheddar with a smoked guajillo oil infused with a cross strain of AC/DC and Haze. Due to its low THC levels, the last has little psychoactive effect, but thanks to a high concentration of cannabidiol, aka CBD, it’s good for relief from anxiety and chronic pain.
Mendoza, who’s 25, aims to change all that. Born and raised in Pilsen, he came into cooking with cannabis about five years ago, after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. He returned home, took music and business classes at Harold Washington College, and worked at a handful of notable restaurants: Owen & Engine, and the late Senza and Green Zebra.
Mendoza prefers to make his own infusions from flower, but particularly in Chicago, where supply and higher prices make that inconvenient, he uses precisely dosed and commercially available tinctures and oils. Typically his method is to finish off uninfused food with low-dosage sauces and seasonings. He’s made a name. Last November he reached the final round of the High Times Cooking Competition at the annual SoCal Harvest Cup.
Since then Mendoza’s returned to town twice, first for a three-day stand in January, then for a dinner and three brunches in March. He’s expanded the number of guests he feeds, and his crew, which now numbers about 20, includes David Hollinger, a friend from culinary school he’s brought on as pastry chef. Hollinger, who’s worked at Topolobampo and the Bakery at Fat Rice, has contributed decidedly unbrownielike sweets like a cafe de olla mochi with a CBD-infused canela and a Guatemalan-style concha stuffed with fried plantains spiked with CBD oil.
