The New York Times ran an interesting article today about the degree to which marijuana is fueling current restaurant trends toward, fattier, comforting and more deeply sensual cuisine. It also revealed (perhaps with minimal surprise) that a lot of big name chefs in the country smoke marijuana. Two of those who were interviewed for the piece included our very own Kogi and Chego mastermind Roy Choi, as well as Animal chef Jon Shook.

“It's not like a campaign to make food out of hemp,” said Choi, “but it is a culture. It's a vibe we have.” Shook, meanwhile, took high stoner food praise for his oxtail gravy poutine, and made reference to McDonald's. “I always call it the Big Mac effect,” he said. “It's that thing where you're trying to hit all the senses,” he said, speaking of the range of basic tastes we're accustomed to in that iconic burger.

How much of the current dining trends in the U.S can be attributed to marijuana? No one is really sure. But we do know this: there are a lot of marijuana dispensaries in Los Angeles (for the moment anyway), and one of them (see photo) is even built inside of an old Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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