After Closing Sullivan Scrap Kitchen, Founder Pivots to Cannabis Edibles

Once praised by Bon Appétit, chef Terence Rogers now takes cues from Bong Appétit in his latest venture: a line of gourmet cannabis edibles. Research and development began this past winter, just months before Sullivan Scrap Kitchen shuttered in August. 

The zero-waste restaurant opened in 2020, just slightly too late to claim pandemic relief funding. According to Rogers, this resulted in significant debt, which accumulated in subsequent years, given rising costs and fluctuating clientele. A decline in evening reservations prompted the end of dinner service last fall and this year, catering orders through sister company TBD Foods also saw a slump. 

Rogers and Holly Adinoff, partners in life and business, are continuing catering services but felt their best course of action was to close Sullivan Scrap Kitchen. “The only path forward would have been us working more hours, taking on more responsibility, and with a baby, we just won’t have that time,” says Rogers. 

As first-time parents to a newborn, he and Adinoff needed to take a step back from the restaurant industry’s high demands. But Rogers identified another way to make use of his chef skills, along with his insights as a regular cannabis consumer. 

He had long had the idea of launching an upscale edibles line, but given legal and financial hurdles, it often fell on the back burner. However, with his father-in-law involved in drug reform and the local cannabis community, Rogers had an in with those holding manufacturing licenses. 

Through a partnership with the same MIP (marijuana-infused products facility) as Mountain High Suckers, his brand 3rd Floor Gourmet aims to launch in early December. “I spent a lot of time in my youth getting stoned in my cousin’s attic, so it’s a tribute to the time spent at my aunt and uncle’s,” Rogers explains of the name choice. 

Steering clear of the saturated chocolate and gummies market, he intends to roll out 3rd Floor Gourmet with three THC distillate-infused products: a salad dressing, a chile crunch oil, and a finishing oil. Recent samples have included beet balsamic and finishing oils infused with smoked onion, as well as a combination of orange, fennel and garlic. Rogers envisions a range of hot sauces, bake mixes and maybe even instant cannabis lattes in the future. 

Packaging for the debut line is still to be determined, but Rogers says he’s leaning towards a tincture bottle with a graduated dropper that indicates dosing. “I think the test batch we did, one tablespoon was ten milligrams [of THC],” he recalls. 

Aiming to attract the more casual cannabis consumer, he notes that the potency of these products can also be diluted when mixed into non-infused pantry staples, such as whatever olive oil, pesto or salad dressings cooks have on hand — “basically taking the Bong Appetit concept from Vice, but making that a little bit more approachable to people in their own homes,” comments Rogers. 

Soon, experimenting with the line will be even easier, given that the brand’s partnered MIP plans to launch a new online delivery service, Velvet Leaf & Co. Rogers hopes that space on recreational dispensary shelves will follow shortly.  

He concludes, “I just want to thank our community — all the customers we had, our staff, our suppliers, everyone at the restaurant — for making it such a special, wonderful place for the past five years. We’re really sad to let that part go, but very excited for this new part of our life.”