Food Design retreat
four days hands-on!
Step into a world where food is not just nourishment, but a powerful tool for creation, reflection and connection. During this unique retreat you will work together with a small, diverse group of participants in the Food Design Playground —an inspiring location in a monumental building in the heart of Dordrecht.
What you are going to do
During four days, you will work under the guidance of food designer and educator Marije Vogelzang to design your own conceptual dinner . No recipes or food styling, but in-depth creative work with food as a medium. You will explore meaning, form, ritual and experience.
Whether you're an artist, designer, teacher, therapist, or curious food lover—you'll be challenged to look at what food can be in a new way: a story, a memory, a gesture.
Your days consist of inspiring workshops, reflection, experiment and delicious communal lunches. You develop ideas, receive personal feedback, and conclude with presenting and tasting your own edible concept.
What you receive
Supervised by Marije Vogelzang (25+ years of experience in food & design)
Creative and culinary support in designing your dinner
Daily delicious lunch + welcome breakfast
An inspiring workplace in the historic Playground
A tangible end result : your conceptual dinner
A network of like-minded people from home and abroad
Please note! This retreat will be given in English.
What it is not
No recipes or food styling tutorials
No big event (intimate and small-scale is precisely the strength)
Not a course to do “on the side” — this experience requires focus and attention
For whom?
For people who feel that food can be more than taste. Who are curious about meaning, experience and new forms of creativity. For makers, thinkers, dreamers and doers.
Practical
📍 Dordrecht
📅 August 12-15, 2025
💶 €1997,- or in 3 installments of €697,-
🍽️ You provide your own ingredients and accommodation (we are happy to help you with tips)
Why join?
After these four days, you will never look at food the same again. You will leave with a layered project, new insights, and a renewed sense of what creativity can mean—for you, and for the world around you.
Want to know more?
For the full program, see: https://www.marijevogelzang.nl/courses/fooddesignretreat/
This retreat is for food lovers who:
interested in food, beyond taste
want personal guidance
want to be challenged mentally and creatively
looking for tangible and tasteful inspiration
want to train their creativity through food
want to experience the magical side of foodDont miss this opportunity!
Welcome breakfast on day one
4 joint lunches (one per day)
All lessons, workshops and personal guidance by Marije Vogelzang
Culinary guidance on day three by a great chef
A beautiful workplace in the historic Food Design Playground
Dinner (except your own creation on the closing evening)
The ingredients for your conceptual dinner (you decide what you need during the process)
Accommodation (but we are happy to help you with nice hotel recommendations in Dordrecht)
When you enter the Food Design Playground, you're not just taking a retreat—you're equipping yourself with a new way of seeing, feeling, and creating.
The tools, insights, and experiences you gain will continue to unfold long after the last bite of your conceptual dinner has been eaten.
This retreat is a catalyst. It will enrich your creative vocabulary, strengthen your design thinking, and hone your ability to transform abstract ideas into tangible, sensory experiences. You will learn how to construct a concept, tell a story through food, and consider every detail of an experience—from the texture of a napkin to the sound in the room to the silence between courses.
You can create powerful food experiences—not just dinners, but also installations, rituals, performances, and workshops that engage the senses and provoke thought.
You are able to pitch and present your concepts clearly, confidently and purposefully—to a client, cultural institution, restaurant or within your own practice.
You can collaborate with chefs, designers, curators or event organizers and are fluent in the language of concept and experience.
You know how to develop your own rituals and formats—such as a memorial dinner, a mourning meal, a playful picnic, or a meditative morning tasting.
You can translate complex themes—like grief, climate change, or identity—into edible metaphors, making abstract subjects tangible, emotional, and unforgettable.
You have a portfolio piece: your conceptual dinner, documented and elaborated, that you can share with the world.
You'll have built a network of like-minded creatives from around the world—many who stay in touch, collaborate, or inspire each other long after the retreat is over.
You understand how to use food as a tool—not just to nourish the body, but to stimulate thoughts, connect people, raise questions, and bring comfort or joy.
And perhaps most importantly:
You go home knowing that your creativity is real, tangible, and worth sharing. That food is more than a trend, more than nutrition—it is your medium.
This retreat won't just fill your notebook.
It fills your practice, your confidence, and your hunger for what is possible.
You create your own unique conceptual dinner.
Four days of hands-on creation.
A group of like-minded people to share experiences with.
A great location for our adventure.
Be the very first to participate in a live food & design retreat in the Playground.
Personal guidance by Marije and a very talented chef.
You go home with a real project in your hands.