Strangers and friends gathered around the dimly lit dining room, trading names, blowing smoke, and speculating on the highs to come. They entered this Jersey Shore rancher as local artisans, alternative healers, and retired couples — and left bonded over a new kind of fine dining emerging from New Jersey’s underground.

The soft hum of conversation quieted as gourmet fish croquettes arrived, one of five courses. Guests dipped the crispy fried dough into a garlic-shallot sauce and spicy mayo, savoring the rush of succulent fish and herbs — and then, almost imperceptibly, another flavor began to bloom.

“It’s a journey that you go on,” said dinner guest Lesley Benanti. “She brings together so many different types of cooking and fuses it with a medicinal way of using THC. You don’t need high THC either — that isn’t the goal. Sometimes it’s simply just allowing you to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment.”

In the kitchen moments earlier, Chef Louisa Rodriguez-Diaz, swaying to low-key reggae, drizzled cannabis-infused garlic and shallot emulsion over the croquettes, every drop glistening as it hit the plate and fused with sriracha mayo. If it isn’t cannabis tincture atop her dishes, weed is melted into the butter or oils cooking them.

Next door, Rodriguez-Diaz and her right hand, “ambiance director” Kate Bush, had transformed the chef’s garage into an intimate dining space — cozy, candlelit, and adorned with spiritual iconography from around the world. And, of course, plenty of pot leaves.

Unlike other dinner parties that grow louder with each drink, this crowd eased into a soothing rhythm of laughter and conversation over the backdrop of Lord Huron’s “Bag of Bones.” A floral centerpiece, crimson table runner, and elegant candelabras set the stage beside Mel “Queenie” Gonzalez’s dab bar, where guests sampled concentrated cannabis wax — a honey-like substance that delivers a single-dose high with just a pea-sized amount.

A new kind of high society

Weed dinner parties are an evolution of adult socializing — no longer confined to college dorms or private clubs. Relaxed settings, curated menus, and responsibly dosed marijuana are now the hallmark of New Jersey’s aboveboard cannabis culture.

People in the region have long been infusing weed into meals or sharing joints over dinner. What’s different now is the openness. Entrepreneurs are hosting cannabis-infused events across the state, allowing adults to “get high,” explore wellness, and connect with other “cannasseurs” without fear or stigma.

At Rodriguez-Diaz’s Durga’s Om Cooking in Brick Township, about 20 minutes from Point Pleasant Beach, she and Bush are refining what New Jersey’s weed dinners can become. Rodriguez-Diaz crafts the flavors and the high; Bush curates the vibe — a vital role when guests may soon feel a bit “out of body.”

Both women come from wellness backgrounds, with decades in yoga and holistic healing. They fold that experience — and Rodriguez-Diaz’s study in Ayurvedic practices through her sister brand, Karmalife Holistic Wellness — into each event.

“It’s a true sacred medicine, and I love to present it in the way it deserves,” she said.

While the night’s theme, “Terps and Tapas,” promised small gourmet plates and even nicer weed, the dinners aren’t designed for people to get obliterated. Rodriguez-Diaz caters to both seasoned consumers and newcomers. Her courses typically contain anywhere from 5 milligrams to 10 milligrams of THC, but can go higher, which is the standard adult dosage found in weed edibles at dispensaries.

“With cannabis, you kind of lose the sense of wanting to be in control, you want to relax,” Rodriguez-Diaz said. “And sometimes someone has to be the mom and say, ‘You know, if you haven’t smoked cannabis since you were 18, and you’re coming to a cannabis dinner, maybe today’s not the day you decide to smoke and eat cannabis?”

Still in the weeds of the law

Despite legalization, cannabis-infused dinners like Rodriguez-Diaz’s still operate in a gray zone. New Jersey’s 2021 law allows adults 21 and older to possess and consume marijuana, but commercial food service with cannabis remains unregulated — restaurants can’t legally sell infused dishes or serve weed on premises without a specific endorsement. Because of that, most chefs host private, invite-only gatherings where guests pay for the experience rather than the cannabis itself, or bring their own. State officials have said social-consumption rules are coming, but years after legalization, the industry is still waiting for clear guidance.

The next step for cannabis isn’t for there to be a dispensary on every corner, cannabis policy advocate Chris Goldstein said. What the Jersey Shore needs is to get cannabis infused with cottage industries: boutique hotels, infused restaurant menus, and catered events such as weddings, bridal showers, and plenty of other celebrations, he said.

“When you go to a weed dinner party, you’re seeing the future,” he said. “You’re seeing how things will be in five years.”

Rodriguez-Diaz plans each menu to start strong with a higher THC kick, tapering off as the night unfolds. By dessert — a stewed apple with infused coconut oil and caramel — only faint traces of cannabis remain.

Still, her goal is balance. “It’s a seasoning. You don’t want too much basil, or too much garlic — well, actually I love garlic — but an herb can overtake the overall taste,” she said. “You want to still be able to experience the taste in cannabis called ‘terpenes’ subtly enough that it doesn’t overpower the dish.”

Coconut and Thai curry shrimp wontons arrived first, bathing in a mango-cilantro chutney that mirrored the citrus terpenes infused into the curry. Then, a harvest soup paired with a cannabis-grilled cheese crouton earned raves.

“It felt like I was at my grandmother’s house, it was so nostalgic,” said dinner guest and cannabis event curator Ashley Brown-Davis.

Between bites, Brown-Davis and Benanti visited the dab bar for a first-time try.

“I liked the way it made me feel,” Brown-Davis said. “I like how clean the smoke is, and its longer-lasting effects.”

For the main course: tender Asian-style short rib, slow-braised and served atop creamy, weed-infused mashed potatoes. Dessert — the cannabis-caramel stewed apple with coconut ice cream — closed the meal on a mellow note.

“It’s not like an edible high [which are very powerful],” Brown-Davis said. “Instead, it’s a nice feeling, like you can stand up, talk with others, and do everything you normally do, but you feel almost like you’re floating.”

When it comes to these cannabis social experiences, it’s never just about the food, yoga, art, or whatever muse serves as an introduction to cannabis. In a post-pandemic world where connection often happens online, much of the intrigue of these gatherings is community.

“There are people that came here by themselves, and you couldn’t even tell,” she joked. “We were laughing like we had been friends for years.”

Benanti, who doesn’t drink alcohol, said she appreciates having a social alternative to bars.

“Since it’s done in a medicinal, responsible way, you’re not overusing,” she said. “That’s where you can come together at a table of all walks of life. They’re very eclectic groups with talented, local people, and that’s what’s great about these dinners.”

From infused dinners and “puff and paint” nights to yoga retreats, New Jersey’s cannabis events are flourishing — in private homes and, increasingly, dispensaries with consumption lounges. Durga’s Om Cooking has hosted dinners at country clubs and plans future wellness retreats through Karmalife.

Brown-Davis also creates her own cannabis mocktail experiences through her High Vibrations NJ events.

“We’re looking into expanding and bringing tourism to the region with these offerings,” Rodriguez-Diaz said. “We want to show them how cannabis and wellness can be under one roof, in the same scene — as it should be.”

In Atlantic City, that vision is already taking shape. Spencer Belz, manager of SunnyTien dispensary and lounge, has been hosting infused dinners, partnering with local restaurants for cannabis wing nights, and slowly building a network of cannabis-friendly experiences.

Boutique hotels are taking note, too. The Boarding House in Cape May hosted a cannabis-themed weekend last April 20, and nearby, Shore House Canna dispensary draws hundreds to its seasonal markets and festivals. Some guests drove as long as six hours to attend, said co-owner Nicole Melchiorre.

Still, the industry is in its early stages. Cannabis tourism won’t truly take off, said Goldstein, until visitors can enjoy it without going out of their way.

“Tourists are looking to do their tourist thing. They’re not visiting somewhere solely for cannabis,” Goldstein said. “So when will cannabis tourism explode? When the first boutique hotels that offer smoking in your room around your balcony open. The first town that offers a beach where you can smoke a joint, or a town with cannabis-friendly campgrounds.”

In the meantime, chefs and promoters like Rodriguez-Diaz — along with lounges and boutique businesses — are paving the way, one dinner party at a time.

Back in Brick Township, dessert plates were scraped clean. Bush ushered the mellow but chatty crowd into the backyard, where a crackling fire and a few rolled joints awaited. Inside, the duo began breaking down the kitchen.

“We’re almost done. You ready for a joint?” Bush asked the chef, lifting a lit one to Rodriguez-Diaz’s lips. The two shared a laugh, smiling as their guests chatter and glow.

“This has come a long way,” Rodriguez-Diaz said. “But, we still have a long way to go.”