The first thing I learned guest budtending in Brooklyn? Your feet hurt before your shift is halfway done. But the conversations make it worth it.
I spent the day behind the counter at By Any Other Name (BAON) in Clinton Hill to experience budtending from the inside, where product knowledge matters, but people matter more.
Learning the menu is just the beginning. The real work happens on the floor: listening to people, asking the right questions, and guiding them to something that fits. At BAON, almost every customer was greeted by name, like walking into a neighborhood bodega instead of a dispensary.
BAON stands out because it carries micro-grow boutique products you rarely see in NYC.
Biggie, Bud, and Brooklyn Pride
The tight-knit Brooklyn community of Clinton Hill is where rap icon Biggie grew up. The street features a life-size mural of Biggie on the corner. The community honors his birthday every year with block party celebrations.
The owner of the dispensary, Ted Crawford, is a Brooklyn native who is dedicated to the borough and the neighborhood. “Our dispensary uplifts the neighborhood and fits in like an important piece of a complicated puzzle,” says Ted.
Ted’s story is provocative; he grew up in nearby Bushwick and was arrested over 30 years ago for a marijuana-related offense, but didn’t do time. “I was lucky to have a lawyer who knew the parameters. He worked hard to help me,” says Ted Crawford, Owner, By Any Other Name.
A businessman and entrepreneur, Ted Crawford also owns a restaurant in Harlem called Row House. He knows how to run a successful business. The dispensary opened less than a year ago with grit and determination, but Ted doesn’t speak about that like most owners who have been through the trauma, dealing with the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM). He is focused on the positive and living life with intention.
Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is bordered by Bedford Stuyvesant to the east and Fort Greene to the west. The area is alive with people and offers the quintessential NYC cool feeling that Manhattan used to have.
The name of the dispensary, By Any Other Name, evolved from a conversation the owner had with his team. It is a story within a story that has deep meaning about legalization, prohibition and reparation. “It’s the story of cannabis within the black community and the shifting of wealth. All the names that cannabis holds in its excellence, terrifying history, in its connectivity and in its healing potentials. We felt the name exuded that deep-rooted conversation,” says Ted Crawford.
As my branded apron glistened under the starkness of the white, modern, sleek interior of the dispensary, I got back to work. The micro-grow products caught my eye.
BAON proudly stocks real New York micro-grows you rarely see in corporate dispensaries:
- Farm 2 Hand (Fyre brand) are legacy growers with a micro license in the Bronx. They previously owned a Port Morris Distillery, the first legal distillery in the Bronx since prohibition. Their newly launched cannabis brand features high-grade flower, zero trim and is kief-free. Only high-quality buds allowed!
- Sticky’s Weed Farm is an outdoor/greenhouse grow upstate NY that offers small batch flower and prerolls.
- Felas is another legacy grow micro from the southern Westchester area that has excellent indoor flower and prerolls.
On the chocolate and sweet side, By Any Other Name offers a unique selection of sweet confessions. “If you’re looking for a full-on candy bar, I recommend the Soft Power Sweets bar. The brand sells a 100mg candy bar and it is packed with flavor and a great rolling build on the THC side.
The Soft Power Sweets, Dulce De Leche candy bar, comes in a Super Power high-dose design. It’s crafted with slow-cooked, handmade vegan condensed coconut milk. “Every batch simmers for 4 hours before becoming a smooth and rich THC caramel. Covered in sixty-five percent ethically sourced chocolate and scored to offer single 10mg doses in a 100mg mini bar. This treat unlocks the high of luxury cannabis sweets,” says Site Manager, Tracy Shah.
If you’re looking for a true micro-dose chocolate, “The 1mg chocolate buttons from I Am Goodness offer a 100-piece bag of chocolate buttons, in milk and dark. They’re perfect for making chocolate chip cookies or homemade trail mix. The micro buttons allow you to create your own dose and are tailored to your recreational tolerance and therapeutic needs,” adds Tracy.
Being a budtender requires deep product knowledge, the ability to make conversation, and being able to read your customer. “You need a super flexible attitude. The rules and regulations are constantly evolving. It helps to have an extensive knowledge of cannabis, especially if you’re also the buyer, like me. As long as you’re not afraid to get your hands dirty, can multitask and tolerate long hours then you’re ready to be a budtender/manager,” says Tracy.
“And those that rushes my clutches/Get smoked like dutches from the master/Hate to blast you but I have to, you see I smoke a lot/You know how the weed go, unbelievable,” a classic Biggie quote that befits the dispensary, where plant medicine and healing are understood and where knowledge is passed to everyone who enters the store.
BAON has blended into the Brooklyn neighborhood. The dispensary is a well-crafted piece of a complicated puzzle that links cannabis culture to music, art and community.
Photos courtesy of BAON
