Dark retreat – meals

Some choose vegetarian meals

Chamomile soup served during a week in the dark

Our vegetarian meals come from the Dobrá Menu restaurant in Kutná Hora, and we bring them to you every day between 11 am and 3 pm.

More about vegetarian meals

Does food taste good when you can’t see it?

The most common worry is that without sight you won’t be able to judge the food, and the second is that vegetarian meals won’t fill you up. Here is what people say in their Google reviews.

The food you brought every day was absolutely fabulous and I savoured every mouthful. I don’t think I have ever eaten better food.
Lenka Müllerová, June 2025

The cabins are furnished just right, the food was absolutely superb (and I don’t usually eat vegetarian dishes).
ciba, January 2026

The food was a total hit – I had no idea what I was eating, but it was divine!! 🙂
Jozef, September 2024

Some choose to fast

An empty ceramic bowl, a glass of water and a linen napkin on a wooden table in the cabin

We don’t really recommend this for beginners, because fasting sets off processes in the body on its own, and for a first-timer a dark retreat combined with fasting can be needlessly demanding.

Eating in the dark

Watch the video to see how participants eat in the dark and why the food tastes heavenly to them.

Without sight, taste and smell come to the fore. A meal that would pass unnoticed in the light suddenly takes up your whole attention — and hardly any participant expects that.

Darkness therapy and food

A bowl of vegetable salad and steamed vegetables

Main meal

In the sanctuary, participants report feeling less need for food, so you eat less than usual. Another factor is a sharpened sense of taste, which strongly objects to spicy food. That is why we always try to provide meals with minimal seasoning, combined so that you enjoy them and can eat them comfortably during darkness therapy.

Food will taste different to you, mainly because you can’t see it; only afterwards do you work out what you have just put in your mouth. The brain has no way of comparing by appearance what something should taste like. Some darkness therapy participants don’t even want to know what they have been given, preferring to work it out for themselves 🙂

Yum, I’ll have that in the dark

Soups

Our vegetarian, and often vegan, soups are not just vegetable broths and creams. Mushrooms, pulses and other tasty and, above all, healthy ingredients appear regularly too.

In summer they tend to be light, and in winter thick enough “for the spoon to stand up in” 🙂 The chef draws inspiration from great soup recipes for darkness therapy from all over the world.

Yum, I’ll have that in the dark

How meals are served

By arrangement, food is brought once a day in food carriers, usually between 11 am and 3 pm. We deliberately don’t want you to get used to a set time, because losing track of time – not knowing exactly what the hour is – is a welcome helper in deepening the contact with your inner self.

vegetarian meals – a diet in which dairy products and eggs are allowed, and ingredients may be cooked or baked. The food is usually very light, so don’t expect fried cheese and chips 🙂

If you are on a gluten-free diet, on a day when the meal contains gluten we can bring you vegetables and fruit instead.

The meals are always the same for everyone, and if there is something you don’t eat or you are allergic to a particular dish, you can eat fruit or vegetables that day, or you can bring your own food.

Drinking water

The water comes from our 120-year-old hand-dug well, from a depth of 10 metres. No concrete! Just stacked stones.

Every dark retreat cabin also has a small electric kettle, so participants can make themselves tea (or would you prefer coffee?) as often as they like

More about the cabin’s facilities

An old hand-dug well of stacked stones with a wooden lid and a bucket in the orchard

What about cravings during a dark retreat?

If you know you get “a terrible craving for something sweet” after every meal, please bring along some wafers, sweets, biscuits or other treats to your taste.

Your dark retreat guides will do everything they can to make your stay as pleasant as possible.

Book your dark retreat

Who will guide you through the dark