BY ALESSANDRA INZINNA
COOKING IN MUTUAL FRIEND’S KITCHEN, MARKETING EXPERT TEKISHA HARVEY AND LONG-TIME CHEF ANGELIQUE SANTANA, HATCHED AN IDEA FOR AN INFUSED PLANT-HERB POP-UP RESTAURANT. WITHIN FOUR WEEKS OF PLANNING, PLANT & HERB BECAME A REALITY.
Angelique Santana
Chef
Plan + Herb
Plant & Herb is a vegan pop-up food experience with CBD or THC infused ingredients. Its intimate and mysterious encounters are only advertised on Instagram and on the website, bringing less than 15 people per event. All attendees sit at a single table where they can mingle and eat delicious vegan food.
Harvey and Santana wanted a unique dining experience clouded in mystery to attract people who craved something to mix up their brunch dates, girls nights out and other outings. Keeping the sense of secrecy, the location remains private until 24 hours before it begins and then sent only to those who signed up.
Santana and Harvey label their menu as “plant-based” for more than one reason.
“Cannabis is a plant, so I felt like the plant and the plant-based eating kind of went really nicely together,” Harvey says, “which is how we came up with the name.”
Santana and Harvey both want their consumers to know that even though smoking weed for recreation just for fun has its perks, it can have a much greater purpose.
“I think it’s really important to show people that it’s not just this recreational tool,” Santana said. “It can be used to heal and so, incorporating it in plant-based foods just really seemed kind of natural.”
People who snag a spot at one of their events experience a slowly paced build up of THC (only in legal markets) or CBD dosage. The infused ingredients on their menus, like the spiked olive oil, can easily be taken off the plate for those looking for delicious vegan food without a kick.
Santana adds the CBD or THC to the entrees through oil. They’ve made an avocado toast with a drizzle of Potli hemp-infused olive oil on top and an infused jalapeno parsley pesto. Their Cucumber Peach Fizz cocktail contains water soluble Modern Nature Vitality Full Spectrum CBD drops.
Spurred on by several pop-up cannabis infused dining experiences in cities like Chicago and NYC, Harvey noticed nothing similar existed in South Florida and wanted to change that. She enlisted the help of Sanata, who’d been vegan since 2014, to help create a plant-based menu.
Rather than simply catering to strict vegans, Santana consciously created a drool-worthy menu that could be enjoyed by anyone.
“Our diners are not vegan or vegetarian, and neither are any of my clients,” Santana explains. Harvey notes that their diners are just interested in delicious food and pushing the limits of their taste buds.
“The food is the hero,” she says. “You can have the prettiest place, the prettiest location, but the food has to be good.”
Santana, a culinary school drop-out and founder of Eat with Angelique, says she jumped on the idea when Harvey presented it.
“I was really drawn to it especially because it was something different for me, and I really just always like a challenge and learning something new,” Santana says.
The creativity present in Plant & Herb takes centerstage for Santana, who relishes in making new and different dishes in the kitchen.
Harvey took over the marketing and business side of Plant & Herb while Santana handled the menu. Everyone who attended the first event loved it, she noticed, and its success filled her with pride.
“It all came together and it was very uplifting too, because everyone had a really good time,” Harvey beams.
Although the coronavirus outbreak has currently halted future plans for Plant and Herb, Harvey and Santana plan on hosting more pop-up events in South Florida in coming months.
CUCUMBER PEACH FIZZ
Ingredients
↘ 3 oz Sauvignon Blanc
↘ ½ oz Elderflower Liqueur
↘ ½ oz Simple Syrup
↘ 2-3 Cucumber Slices
(muddled)
↘ 1 Peach Slice
(fresh or frozen)
↘ 1 full dropper of Modern Nature Vitality
↘ Full Spectrum
CBD Drops
(Water Soluble)
↘ Top w/Tonic
Instructions
Add ingredients (except Tonic & peach) into a cocktail shaker, and lightly muddle to incorporate. Add ice, and shake together to combine/chill. Double strain into an ice filled wine goblet, top with Tonic,
and garnish with peach slice.
