Can this local cannabis chef beat Bobby Flay? Find out on Aug. 4.
Denver Post August 2, 2022
Will local chef Jarod Farina be able to shout “I beat Bobby Flay?” You can find out next week.
The owner of Denver’s Dine with Roilty cannabis catering company will compete on the Food Network show “Beat Bobby Flay” on Aug. 4. The show, in which contestants compete against one another and then against celebrity chef Flay, is rife with tantalizing twists and plenty of savory smack talk.
Farina specializes in cooking with cannabis, infusing foods from pasta to pastries with small amounts to bring THC to the gourmet table. His fine-dining company hosts private dinners, offered at up to $225 per guest for the full seven-course cannabis-infused meal. His dishes have brought him international renown and won him awards at several competitions, including being named High Times Top Cannabis Chef.
While Farina won’t be cooking with cannabis on “Beat Bobby Flay,” he’s done so on two other TV appearances. He was a finalist on “Chopped 420” in 2021 and his cannabis-infused meals were featured on Bravo’s “Southern Charm” in 2019.
Still, he said the Food Network competition is his biggest break yet, and he hopes the show will recognize his cannabis-cooking specialty on prime time.
“We provide a fine dining element to the cannabis industry, so for me to be recognized on a national level with executive chefs and people that have been in the business and went to culinary school … to rub shoulders and be able to compete on the same floor in the Bobby Flay arena, is definitely a dream come true,” he said.
Farina’s episode is titled “Smack Talk City.” While he hasn’t seen the final edited show, he can definitely guarantee that a lot of trash talk was going down that day.
You can catch Farina next Thursday at 7 p.m. on Food Network, or even join him in person at a free watch party at Jad’s Mile High Smoke starting at 6 p.m. the same day. Farina will be serving up free hors d’oeuvres for those in attendance.