About Travis Petersen
Travis Petersen is the chef and founder of The Nomad Cook, a culinary cannabis concept based in Vancouver, Canada. Considered one of the pioneers of culinary cannabis in North America, Petersen appeared on MasterChef Canada before launching The Nomad Cook in 2016 as a traveling pop-up and private dining operation. A self-taught cook, he built the concept around responsible dosing, terpene-driven menu development, and a rigorous approach to guest safety. Since relocating to the United States in 2021, he has taken his Nomadic Nights pop-up dinner series to 38 cities across 18 states, and has served over 10,000 people their first infused dining experience. He has partnered with major cannabis brands in both Canada and the United States and received international media attention from outlets in Australia, Austria, England, Germany, New Zealand, and Switzerland. He is also the author of The Nomad Cook: Introduction to Culinary Cannabis, a cookbook and professional manual covering dosing safety, terpene profiles, and infusion technique. His culinary cannabis certificate course has since been licensed to American culinary institutions.
Episode Overview
André Natera sits down with Travis Petersen to talk about what it takes to build a traveling pop-up restaurant business in an emerging and legally complex category. Petersen traces the path from his first cannabis dinner in Vancouver to operating across two countries and developing a professional framework for culinary cannabis that most of the industry had not yet considered. He talks about the logistics of running multi-state pop-up operations, how he approaches menu development through terpene profiles and local market sourcing, and what responsible dosing actually looks like as a professional standard rather than an afterthought.
The conversation covers the business model behind private cannabis dining, how Petersen broke into catering at a time when there were no established pathways, and what skills chefs need to operate in this category that traditional kitchen careers do not build. He also talks about stigma, why he believes cannabis cuisine belongs in the same conversation as fine dining, and what the certification work he has done means for the long-term legitimacy of the field.
Topics covered in this episode:
- Building The Nomad Cook from a single Vancouver pop-up to 38 cities across the United States
- Terpene-driven menu development and matching cannabis profiles to food
- Responsible dosing as a professional standard and guest safety protocol
- The business model behind private cannabis dining and pop-up hospitality
- Breaking into cannabis catering before established pathways existed
- Creating a culinary cannabis certificate program licensed to American culinary institutions
- What chefs need to know to work in cannabis cuisine that traditional training does not cover
- The case for cannabis cuisine as a legitimate category within fine dining
Guest
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