The Füde Dinner Experience Features Nude Guests (Seriously)

If you're a foodie who loves visiting one-of-a-kind restaurants, then immersive dining is the ideal way to elevate your dining experience to the next level. Over the past few decades, designers have found new methods of fusing together eating out with a range of sensory experiences and creating a brand-new art form in the process.

Many themed restaurants, such as a U.K. restaurant based around Batman's Gotham City, transport diners into their favorite worlds from fiction where they can explore familiar locations. A restaurant at Disney World blasts guests into a simulated intergalactic environment through space elevators so they can enjoy panoramic views of space and astronauts through the restaurant's windows. If you're feeling particularly brave and really want to test out your senses, there are also immersive restaurant experiences where you can dine entirely in the dark.

But perhaps none of these are as polarizing as the Füde dinner experience in the Lower East Side of New York. During this experience, guests are invited to bare all by leaving not just their coats but their entire wardrobe at the door to enjoy a delicious meal completely naked with a bunch of strangers.

According to The New York Times, the Füde experience is led by artist and model Charlie Ann Max, who started hosting naked events in 2020. For $88, the chosen guests can enjoy a vegan menu while occupying an enjoyable space. Each event is themed, and previous experiences have been based on the ideas of self-love, museum, and menstrual cycles. 

All guests must apply for the event in advance, and men are more heavily screened than women, though Max says most people are accepted. Attendees primarily enjoy the warm and candlelit dinner experience as it helps them reconnect with their bodies and feel more confident. One person told The New York Times that nudity helps people connect in different ways and that it also strips away elements of the patriarchy.  This aligns with what Füde hopes to achieve with its immersive dining experience. 

Füde seeks to create a safe space that is conducive to people exploring themselves and connecting with others. Some Füde sessions also combine nude dining with other disciplines and activities such as breathwork, yoga, life drawing, clay, and photography. Prospective participants can view the upcoming schedule of Füde events and access the application form on the website.