Inside the nude vegan dining experience that sees strangers eat together naked

‘It’s my mission to connect us to our most pure, authentic selves,’ says 29-year-old Charlie Ann Max, founder of The Füde Experience.

How does she hope to achieve this? By hosting naked dinner parties where people sign up to dine in the buff, of course.

Charlie started Füde (pronounced ‘food’) back in 2020 and the concept has since grown to include four sister events in New York and Los Angeles, including The Füde Dinner Experience, The Füde Breathwork Experience, The Füde Clay Experience, and The Füde Photo Experience.

Entry to a Füde Experience, named thus to pay homage to Charlie’s German-Jewish heritage, costs between $44 [£35.27] and $88 [£70.54].

It’s ‘definitely worth it,’ said Niko Jane, who attended her third Füde event on Friday along with forty others at Rosa, an event space in New York’s Williamsburg neighbourhood.

‘It’s stepping out of your comfort zone in such a safe way,’ she added, ‘even though it doesn’t seem like that walking in the door.

‘When you get here, everyone’s a little timid and a little slow. But the more you’re here, people are just hanging out, and we just happen to be naked. It’s nice to be in a space that’s not sexual.’

Some may remember London’s naked restaurant the opened in 2016, promising connection through the medium of cooking, companionship, and nudity. But Füde goes even further.

After breathing exercises with the help of breathwork facilitator Lihi Benisty, attendees on Friday enjoyed a vegan dinner made up of herb salad, basmati rice, and chocolate-covered strawberries.

There was also a sweet potato curry with spinach that was supposed to be on the menu too, but it burned on the portable stove – nobody seemed to care, though.

Mehow Podstawski was too busy having a breakthrough thanks to the breathwork.

‘Out of nowhere,’ Mehow said, ‘I realised that I was working through a fear that I didn’t know I had, and I just started crying. All of a sudden, it was like this fear that you have is so irrational that it doesn’t matter, and you are powerful enough and strong enough to go through this, and take on the next opportunity that comes your way because you have the strength.

‘The only reason you’re saying “no” is because you’re scared. And that was really nice.’

A lot of people attending for the first time are ‘nervous,’ says Charlie, but she hopes that’ll melt away soon enough.

‘People are coming in for the first time to experience nudity in a group, and so it’s important that we have different facilitators to come in to help people feel more comfortable,’ she says.

That’s why there was a person in attendance on Friday who looked for any signs of discomfort, and stepped in when she saw something that needed to be changed.

Everyone who participates in the events also needs to apply on the event’s website and go through a screening process before they’re allowed to attend, ‘in order to ensure the safety and comfort of all attendees,’ as the organisers say.

Ritu Saheb, who wanted to attend in a bid to regain confidence in her body while going through menopause, said: ‘Obviously, there is a need for it, and that’s why we have so many women here.

‘There’s so much pressure out there – on the street, in the way you dress, in the way you look. But there is no pressure in this room.

‘So I think it’s a very positive experience, and I hope to see this movement grow more.’

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