And then something unexpected happened.
We started teaching.
At first, the classes were simply meant to help people learn how to cook with cannabis more confidently at home. We thought we would be talking mostly about recipes, infusions and techniques.
Instead, people started sharing stories.
Bad edible experiences. Fear around dosing. Anxiety about losing control. Questions they didn’t feel comfortable asking anywhere else.
That changed everything for us.
The more classes we taught, the more we realized people weren’t just looking for recipes. They were looking for guidance, trust and someone to help them feel comfortable exploring cannabis in a safe and intentional way.
Looking back now, this was probably the moment the modern version of Your Canna Chef was truly born.
Not because we had all the answers, but because we finally understood what people actually needed from us.
The recipes still mattered.
The food still mattered.
But hospitality, trust and human connection started mattering even more.
* Adam & Jeanette
Somewhere in the middle of building businesses, testing recipes, chasing ideas and trying to figure out what Your Canna Chef was becoming… we also built a life together.
Looking back now, it’s impossible to separate the growth of the company from the growth of our relationship. Every stage of this journey happened side by side. The long nights testing recipes. The crazy ideas. The pivots. The stress. The wins. The moments where we had absolutely no idea what came next.
We figured all of it out together.
And honestly, that partnership shaped the company more than anything else ever could.
Because hospitality, at its core, is about taking care of people. Building trust. Creating comfort. Making people feel safe and welcomed in unfamiliar spaces.
Those values didn’t come from a business plan. They came from the life we were building together while Your Canna Chef slowly evolved around us.
Adam & Jeanette
This was the phase where Your Canna Chef stopped being “just recipes” and started becoming an obsession with getting things right.
There were a LOT of nights like this.
Testing recipes. Testing infusions. Testing methods. Testing dosing. Trying to understand why cannabis edibles were so wildly inconsistent from one experience to the next and figuring out how we could make them feel safer, more predictable and more approachable for everyday people.
At the time, we didn’t realize we were slowly building the foundation for our future hospitality philosophy. We just knew we cared deeply about creating experiences people could actually trust.
Looking back now, it’s funny how much of our current approach was born in moments exactly like this: standing outside beside a flat top grill, tweaking recipes while Xena supervised every move.
The deeper we got into culinary cannabis, the more we realized that recipes alone weren’t enough. People weren’t just looking for food. They were looking for confidence, guidance and consistency.
That realization changed the direction of Your Canna Chef forever.
Adam & Jeanette
At one point, we genuinely believed infused meal kits were going to become a huge part of the future of Your Canna Chef.
So we built them.
We tested recipes, designed packaging, created themed kits and spent countless hours trying to figure out how to help people create infused meals confidently at home.
And honestly? We still think the idea had a lot of potential.
But this was also the stage where something important started happening behind the scenes. The deeper we got into culinary cannabis, the more we realized that responsibility mattered just as much as creativity.
We found ourselves asking bigger questions:
How do you create consistency?
How do you build trust?
How do you make people feel safe and confident?
Where was our own comfort zone inside such a new industry?
Eventually, we realized something important:
just because something could work didn’t necessarily mean it was the right fit for us.
That realization changed the direction of Your Canna Chef completely.
Instead of focusing on products, we leaned harder into education, guided experiences, coaching and hospitality. We wanted real conversations with guests. We wanted trust. We wanted to help people experience cannabis in a way that felt intentional, personal and safe.
Looking back now, the meal kits weren’t a failure at all.
They were one of the first moments that helped us define what kind of company we truly wanted to become.
Adam & Jeanette
After Roadside Gourmet came the very first version of Your Canna Chef.
Looking back at this original website now makes us smile a little.
At the time, our goal felt simple: create a place where people could learn to cook with cannabis confidently at home. We focused heavily on recipes, infusions and helping people explore a side of cannabis that felt more approachable and creative than the typical “mystery edible” experience most people knew.
And honestly, we still love that part of our story.
What we didn’t realize yet was how much the conversations around those recipes would eventually shape the future of the company. People weren’t just looking for recipes. They were looking for confidence, guidance and trust.
That realization slowly changed everything.
Over time, recipes evolved into coaching. Coaching evolved into classes. Classes evolved into private dining and guided hospitality experiences built around intentional dosing, education and guest comfort.
It’s funny looking back at this now because, at the time, we thought we were building a recipe website.
In reality, we were laying the foundation for something much bigger.
Adam & Jeanette
Before Your Canna Chef ever existed, there was The Roadside Gourmet… and apparently enough ambition (or insanity) to buy an old ambulance and turn it into a fully self-contained mobile hospitality kitchen.
At the time, we believed great hospitality experiences could happen anywhere. The vision was a rolling teaching kitchen and private dining space that could travel wherever the experience needed to happen.
And honestly? We still love the idea.
Looking back now, it’s funny how much of what would eventually become Your Canna Chef already existed inside this project. Even before cannabis became part of the conversation, we were already obsessed with hospitality, education, personalization and creating experiences that felt different from traditional catering or restaurant service.
The ambulance eventually moved on as our business evolved, but it taught us something important:
every stage of this journey helped shape the company we were becoming.
Sometimes building the right thing means being willing to outgrow the first version of the dream.
And yes… the hashtag on the back really did say #itsnotafoodtruck.
Adam & Jeanette
Somehow, in the middle of building Your Canna Chef, packing a house, preparing for a cooking competition and planning a move to cottage country… we still manage to find time for adventures together.
Over the last few years, St. Thomas and Elgin County have watched us grow from an idea into something much bigger than we ever imagined.
Our first goal was simply to create a database of cannabis-infused recipes. From there, we explored everything from meal kits and infusion coaching to cooking classes and private dining experiences. Along the way, we learned where our comfort zone truly was and what kind of company we wanted Your Canna Chef to become.
What mattered most wasn’t growing as fast as possible. It was building trust, teaching responsibly and helping people experience cannabis in a way that felt safe, intentional and welcoming.
This community gave us the space to learn, pivot, refine and grow into the version of Your Canna Chef that exists today.
For that, we are incredibly grateful.
As we prepare for the next chapter at The Point, we’ve been reflecting a lot on where this journey started and the people who supported us while we figured it all out.
This isn’t goodbye. Just a heartfelt thank you before the next adventure begins.
And apparently… adventures are kind of our thing.
Adam & Jeanette
Hospitality starts with trust.
In a restaurant, your guest trusts you to serve food that won’t harm them.
In our world, they’re trusting you with something more.
The experience.
That’s why we approach cannabis the same way we approach everything else in the kitchen.
With control.
Dreams only work if you do. We did.
Three years ago we stood on a piece of land and imagined what it could become.
Since then it’s been long days, big decisions, problem solving, and showing up… over and over again.
Today, the pod showed up.
This is what building something actually looks like.
Next stop… we live in our cabin on a lake.
#buildyourlife
#cabinlife
#tinyhomebuild
#ontariocottagecountry
#lakelifeontario
#dreamtoreality
#behindthebuild
#entrepreneurlife
#yourcannachef
#lifeinprogress
There’s a lot of attention on culinary cannabis right now.
And I get it.
But this isn’t something you figure out as you go.
Over the past little while, I spent some time in the kitchen with Chef Terrance Tew… not building a menu, not cooking for guests… working through infusion, dosing, and the responsibility that comes with it. @chefyboy226
Terrance is a serious chef. Strong background. Knows his craft.
And when he stepped into this space… he didn’t guess.
He came to us to learn how to do it properly.
That’s what professionals do.
Because when cannabis is involved, your guests aren’t just trusting you with their food… they’re trusting you with their experience.
We don’t take that lightly.
We don’t serve guesses.
This summer, I’m opening a small number of hands-on workshops for chefs who want to approach this the same way.
No shortcuts. No figuring it out on your guests.
If that sounds like you… the waitlist is open.
yourcannachef.ca/chef-training
Great room this week in Niagara Falls at the CCTA Summit.
Lots of good conversation… but what stood out to me was how much the focus is shifting toward doing this properly.
Less guesswork. More intention.
That’s always been our lane.
And it’s exactly what we’re bringing into cottage country this summer.
We’ll be based in the Simcoe / Muskoka region, offering private dining experiences built around good food, clear dosing, and a level of trust you don’t have to think twice about.
If you’ve got a cottage weekend planned and want to elevate it a bit… reach out.
#CCTA #CannabisTourism #YourCannaChef #CulinaryCannabis #Muskoka #LakeSimcoe #CottageLife #PrivateDining #CannabisEducation #Hospitality
After an incredible day at the CCTA Cannabis Tourism Summit in Niagara Falls, I decided to come up to check on the cabin… now it’s time to cheer on Jeanette’s beloved Penguins! I’ll post an update tomorrow about the conference, but for now, I will wish you all a happy 420!
