A Cannabis Cafe

Cannabis Cafe (c) Elisa Leonelli

Touted as the first restaurant in America where guests can openly smoke marijuana, A Cannabis Cafe opened October 1st at 1201 N La Brea Ave in West Hollywood. They serve farm to table food and offer a variety of cannabis products to eat, drink or smoke; both are sourced from Lowell Farms, grown with organic fertilizer and no pesticides.

Cannabis Cafe (c) Elisa Leonelli

I was there today, as a member of the press but also as a customer. I ordered their avocado toast for breakfast. It came topped with peas and radishes and tasted delicious. I did not sample any marijuana offerings, but I listened to the explanations of a flower host or budtender. She showed me how to operate a giant water pipe called a gravity bong.

Cannabis Cafe. Gravity bong (c) Elisa Leonelli

I was puzzled by the logo of a bull and found out that it refers to William “Bull” Lowell, founder of the company in 1909. My waitress told me it represents a Minotaur, the half bull/half man creature of Greek mythology.

Cannabis Cafe (c) Elisa Leonelli

Text and photos by Elisa Leonelli

P.S. For more info read these articles in LA Magazine, New York Times, LA Weekly.

Unplug in West Hollywood

Unplug Meditation WEHO opening

Last night I was invited to the opening reception for the new West Hollywood location of Unplug Meditation, at 8500 Melrose Ave, in the newly renovated building at the corner with La Cienega. Beautiful and trendy people were in attendance; it was a cosmopolitan group, I heard French and Australian spoken. Founder Suze Yalof Schwartz introduced the teachers of various types of meditation. I was intrigued by one class described as Brain Massage. Other classes are called with the suggestive names of Aha Moment, Deep Calm, Discover, Imagine, Morning Intention, Soul Travel, etc.

Founder Suze Yalof Schwartz

I have been a frequent visitor to Unplug’s Santa Monica location at 12401 Wilshire near Centinela, ever since they opened in 2014. My favorite class is Sound Bath, where vibrations provided by a crystal didgeridoo and other ancient instruments wash over the meditators and guide them to higher states of consciousness.
Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, meditation is a useful tool to tune out the distracting noise of our busy lives, and focus on our inner self.

Studio managers T.R. Shepard, Deborah Brock

See list of available classes and workshops at this link.
New students may try 2-weeks of unlimited classes for $35.

Unplug Meditation. West Hollywood.

I recommend you also try DEN Meditation, on LaBrea at 3rd St.
They offer 21 days of unlimited Classes and 3 Workshops for $50
For more info read my article QiGong at DEN Meditation.

Text and photos by Elisa Leonelli