Having spent the last twenty years bouncing back and forth between San Francisco and New York, I’ve been to a lot of events. I put in eight years on the advertising circuit in Manhattan before moving to the Bay Area, so I’ve seen just about every approach to a party that you can imagine. And I have to say, I recently attended an event that was truly unique. 

Better yet, it all went down at Real Old Paper gallery, just steps from my North Beach apartment. I’ve written about the space here before. A spacious, light-splashed shop festooned with the coolest collection of vintage posters this side of New York City, it’s the ideal setting for the event in question: my very first cannabis party.

I know what you’re probably thinking, and I’m using a pretty qualified definition of cannabis party here: this wasn’t four guys standing in a driveway. This was a professionally conceived and thrown event, with delicious food, serious sponsors and a tightly curated roster of guests. Oh, and did I mention? It was completely wonderful.

A small part of the offerings at a recent private cannabis event in San Francisco’s North Beach.

The food, provided by chef Pedro Romero, was savory, delicate and scrumptious. Pedro was serving his fare either ‘infused’ or not, depending upon your preference, and both were on point. As you might imagine, the chef had a throng of avid munchers; he and his wife Leslie Maldonado (of Blazen’ Jane’s catering) were two of the chief sponsors for the event, along with James Dominguez of HIFI Supplements, a CBD company focusing on wellness products for the fitness industry.

There were also medicated mini-donuts from Babinkas, and a generous budtender dispensing Vapes for Vapexhale. And if that weren’t enough, the folks at Aces Extracts were generously sampling their disposable vape pens (all of which were very tasty).

I behaved myself, but I also enjoyed myself. I was suffering from a broken wrist at the time, and my right arm was splinted on the night of the party. At one point I remember challenging someone at the joint rolling station, claiming I could roll one-handed. (I could not.)

In any case, if this is a preview of the sort of event we’ll be seeing here in the Bay Area, that’s good news. It was a great group of people, all seemingly friends of friends, and it somehow avoided the typical pitfalls of industry-centric gatherings. The fact that it was alcohol-free seemed to encourage a libertine but civilized vibe, quite unlike the typical party ambience–and very welcome. We hope to see something like this again soon, and we’ll be sure to keep you apprised.

Meanwhile, we’ll be back to report on the latest happenings here in North Beach, and to let you know about upcoming events just like this one. See you on the street!