Tim Wiggins was surprised by the scene at his first Best Buds dinner collaboration with SWADE Cannabis. It was 2024, recreational cannabis had just been legalized in Missouri about a year prior, and he knew there was a growing interest in infused food and drinks. He figured the series, held at his Central West End cocktail bar Lazy Tiger, would be well-attended, but the diversity of the crowd left him gobsmacked.
“I truly believed that it would be a younger crowd,” Wiggins recalls. “And there were people in their 20s, but there were also people in their 60s. Whatever my conception of the type of people who would come—would it be cagey, would people linger or act weird—changed when I saw the actual crowd. It was just people looking to have a good time and be mindful of what they are consuming.”
Two years later, Wiggins and SWADE are again teaming up for this season’s Best Buds series, a regularly occurring event that has become the cornerstone of the brand’s efforts at cannabis normalization. The series kicks off September 14 at Wiggins’ latest concept, Extra Wavy (2017 Chouteau). Reservations for the “Summer Daze”–themed event are available here (under Experiences) for $70 per person.
A second event is scheduled for late September at Kansas City’s Varsity Club. Additional St. Louis-based dinners are slated to be announced in the coming months, with an emphasis on events planned around Dry January.
Like Wiggins, SWADE’s director of marketing Brandon Cavanagh appreciates how the Best Buds dinner series draws from many different demographics—something that he believes demonstrates the growing normalization of cannabis culture.
“Every time we do these dinners, I look around the room and see all different ages and demographics, and everyone is smiling from ear to ear,” Cavanagh says. “It’s a really cool vibe. We had this one table of 70 year-old women; I don’t think they just decided to consume cannabis for the first time that night. This was their chance to come out of the shadows and enjoy themselves the way that they want to in public. It’s great that we have this space for people who have been longtime consumers to just feel comfortable and safe in public. We have come such a long way in such a short time.”
Cavanagh and Wiggins believe that Best Buds is an important step toward normalization of cannabis culture. In fact, Cavanagh had that as his goal when he and the SWADE team first launched the series two years ago. As a restaurant industry veteran (Cavanagh formerly owned the craft beer bar Gazellig in The Grove), he felt that by drawing upon the familiarity people have with going out to dinner, it would give them a comfortable access point into something that many still view as taboo.
“We figured that, because going out to eat is such a normal part of life, we could find a way to fold cannabis into that,” Cavanagh says. “And it was important to us to partner with chefs and restaurants that people were already familiar with—people like Nick Bognar of Indo and Sado and Alex Henry of El Molino del Sureste—so we could signal to people that this is an elevated, upscale experience.”
Cavanagh credits High Five Cannabis’ innovative product, STiRiBLES, as making these collaborations possible. “What first intrigued me is that they come in 5-milligram doses, so people can go at their own pace,” Cavanagh says. “You can fold them into beverages or into sauces served alongside a dish, so people can have control over what they are consuming and gauge whether they want more or less. And they are flavorless, so you are not fundamentally changing the flavor or cooking process. We can really let the chefs and their food shine.”
Wiggins is excited by the opportunities that it presents and teases that the upcoming dinner will include a five-course “greatest hits” of the popular seafood-inflected restaurant. Dishes and beverages will be served “infused optional” in 5-milligram increments, so guests can consume at their own pace. For the upcoming dinner at Extra Wavy, the menu will include the restaurant’s hamachi crudo, lobster doughnut, a salad course, crab pasta, and sticky toffee pudding. All dishes are presented without THC but are served with an accompanying infused sauce, so diners can make their own decisions about how much they want to consume. For example, the salad will be served with an infused garlic ranch, the lobster doughnut will come with two different infused dipping sauces, and the bread pudding will be served with an infused almond caramel.
For drinks, Wiggins and his team are starting with a nonalcoholic cocktail and then allowing guests to add the optional infusion on request. Drink choices include an N/A blood orange espresso martini; an N/A concoction of cherry, bitters, and pistachio almond foam; and the restaurant’s signature “Pina Co-Nada,” an N/A riff on a pina colada made with pineapple and coconut. Optional THC dosages are 5 milligrams, with the total consumption being 20 milligrams for each diner.
“All of the sauces and beverage dosing are optional,” Wiggins emphasizes. “It’s never going to be a situation where I’m hungry or thirsty, so I have to keep consuming. The idea is to have everything controlled and purposeful, so you can consume without having to worry about anything.”
During the three Best Buds dinners they’ve done together, Wiggins and Cavanagh have observed how important the series is not only to cannabis enthusiasts, but also to those who don’t drink or choose to be more mindful of alcohol consumption. Because the dinner is completely alcohol-free, that element is a non-issue. As Cavanagh explains, this approach gives those who abstain from booze a freeing experience.
“I quit drinking about four-and-a-half years ago, and a big part of what I missed was gathering in these familiar spaces,” Cavanagh says. “It’s not that I don’t feel comfortable anymore, but it’s just different when you aren’t drinking and everybody else is. When everyone is on the same page, it is really a joy. It’s a different vibe knowing that everyone can come out, gather in a public place, and feel the sense of community.”
Wiggins certainly noticed that sense of community at the prior Best Buds series, and he’s looking forward to expanding on that in this coming one, as well as future dinners.
“People come in, eat, drink, leave, and then they are on to the next thing,” Wiggins says. “They leave feeling good, not heavy, and just in a really good mindset. It’s a great time.”