The illustrious Thomas Keller's French Laundry, a beacon of three Michelin stars, has put a spell on countless souls in the domain of gastronomy. However, its influence has inadvertently leaped into realms far less appetizing to the restaurant's taste.
A weed variant by Maven Genetics, once dubbed French Laundry, fell under the discerning eye of the restaurant, which subsequently delivered a legal warning to cease and desist. The strain's moniker was not a hat tip to Keller's revered eatery — it emerged from the essence of the herb's lineage — yet it garnered enough buzz to stir the restaurant into action and sever the unintended ties.
"With a mix of honor and melancholy, Maven must divulge a poignant update about our widely acclaimed variety, French Laundry," Maven declared. "As the curtain falls on this year, we're met with a plot twist. A cease and desist missive from the venerated Napa Valley gem, French Laundry, has reached us, highlighting a risk of trademark breach. Our choice of name, a light-hearted homage to its ancestry, wasn't designed to step on any trademark toes. Nonetheless, to keep clear of legal snares, we've made the somber choice to sunset the French Laundry name from our array of offerings."
The farm is rechristening the strain as FKAFL, short for "Formerly Known as French Laundry." Keller's consortium secured the rights to the French Laundry name way back in '98, ensuring they hold sway over its usage. Maven's adaptation involves bowing out the name but not the strain, continuing to harness it for future hybridizations slated for next year's debut.
This scenario isn't the French Laundry's premier collision with a cannabis quandary. In 2016, NYT critic Pete Wells compared a mushroom consommé at Keller's Per Se to bong water, followed by San Francisco Chronicle's Soleil Ho encountering a theatrical soup served in an actual bong at French Laundry — seemingly an inside joke rooted in Well's critique.
French Laundry may have been amenable to a chuckle then, but this tie to Maven's cannabis was clipped with haste. For the cannabis cultivator, however, this brush with culinary aristocracy carries a silver lining.
"The unexpected benefit of this, the stir it's caused within the culinary circles," commented Miguel De Vivo, Maven's chief of branding. "It's quite startling and frankly thrilling that such an establishment took notice. To be acknowledged in the same breath is rather thrilling."
A weed variant by Maven Genetics, once dubbed French Laundry, fell under the discerning eye of the restaurant, which subsequently delivered a legal warning to cease and desist. The strain's moniker was not a hat tip to Keller's revered eatery — it emerged from the essence of the herb's lineage — yet it garnered enough buzz to stir the restaurant into action and sever the unintended ties.
"With a mix of honor and melancholy, Maven must divulge a poignant update about our widely acclaimed variety, French Laundry," Maven declared. "As the curtain falls on this year, we're met with a plot twist. A cease and desist missive from the venerated Napa Valley gem, French Laundry, has reached us, highlighting a risk of trademark breach. Our choice of name, a light-hearted homage to its ancestry, wasn't designed to step on any trademark toes. Nonetheless, to keep clear of legal snares, we've made the somber choice to sunset the French Laundry name from our array of offerings."
The farm is rechristening the strain as FKAFL, short for "Formerly Known as French Laundry." Keller's consortium secured the rights to the French Laundry name way back in '98, ensuring they hold sway over its usage. Maven's adaptation involves bowing out the name but not the strain, continuing to harness it for future hybridizations slated for next year's debut.
This scenario isn't the French Laundry's premier collision with a cannabis quandary. In 2016, NYT critic Pete Wells compared a mushroom consommé at Keller's Per Se to bong water, followed by San Francisco Chronicle's Soleil Ho encountering a theatrical soup served in an actual bong at French Laundry — seemingly an inside joke rooted in Well's critique.
French Laundry may have been amenable to a chuckle then, but this tie to Maven's cannabis was clipped with haste. For the cannabis cultivator, however, this brush with culinary aristocracy carries a silver lining.
"The unexpected benefit of this, the stir it's caused within the culinary circles," commented Miguel De Vivo, Maven's chief of branding. "It's quite startling and frankly thrilling that such an establishment took notice. To be acknowledged in the same breath is rather thrilling."
