Wine Pairing? That's So 2013 — Legal Marijuana Sales in Colorado Inspire New Menu Item at Sushi Joint

In conjunction with the January 1 legalization of recreational marijuana retail sales in Colorado, one restaurant is trumpeting a menu item that piggybacks on the age-old practice of wine-pairing.

Inside a Hapa restaurant (Image source: Facebook)

Call it weed-paring.

And the food isn't foie gras or filet mignon — it's sushi.

Hapa Sushi Grill & Sake Bar, a small chain with locations in Denver and Boulder, has launched marijuana-pairing menus to satisfy those with particular penchants for the non-traditional combination, according to Creativity Online.

So with your puffs of Pakistani Kush, you might try Pakalolo Shrimp...and Sour OG looks like a perfect match for Honey Miso Salmon. Here are the options so far (and note the message at the very bottom of the page):

(Image source: TDA Boulder)

Eater reported that a Hapa advertisement says the restaurant interior has been "ergonomically designed to reduce paranoia" while a table placard tells clientele that management reserves the right to serve customers who want to discuss "how cool their pets are" — which Eater discloses is "basically a conversation prompt for stoned guests."

This isn't a first for Hapa Sushi, as it has teamed up with local ad agency TDA Boulder previously for pro-pot campaigns. In 2009, the New York Times reported that Hapa encouraged medical marijuana patients with the munchies to curb them at the restaurant.

In doing so Hapa provided a map of Denver and Boulder with 63 dots. Four red dots indicated Hapa locations while the remaining 59 blue dots showed medical marijuana dispensaries — some that were "just a stone’s throw from the restaurants," the Times noted.

“We’re just kind of saying, ‘Look, these dispensaries exist and they’re becoming part of our community, so let’s welcome them in and have some fun,’” Mark Van Grack, owner of Hapa Sushi, told the Times in 2009. “If you’re going to smoke pot, you’re going to get the munchies, so come to Hapa to eat.”

(H/T: Eater)