Meals
Meals at Vallecitos are healthy, hearty, ovo-lacto vegetarian (incorporating eggs and dairy). We strive to
use organic and locally sourced ingredients if possible. Tea, fruit, and snacks are available throughout the day in
the dining room. Coffee is served at breakfast. The retreat center is almost two hours from the nearest
supermarket, and much effort is required to provide all our guests with fresh, delicious, home-cooked meals.
Special Dietary Information / Simple Bar
Vallecitos is committed to providing the best retreat experience possible. We understand that you have legitimate questions and concerns pertaining to your special dietary restrictions and need to understand what options you will have on retreat. We have implemented a simple bar to accommodate 99% of all special diet requests. What this entails is at the mid-day and evening meal the kitchen will prepare 3 items that provide a balanced offering that most anyone with food restrictions can enjoy. It contains a cooked vegetable, cooked grain and source of protein (bean, legume or such). These items are prepared very simply, without dairy, soy, nuts or spices.
We still ask for your specific restrictions in your registration so that our cooks can prepare and order accordingly. The Simple Bar will be tailored to the special requests for each particular retreat. (i.e. no nightshades will mean that the plain bar will not have any nightshades as the vegetable offering). For those of you that fall into the 1% where the simple bar still does not meet your needs, please let us know your requirements and we will let you know what we can accommodate. (i.e. no grain, dairy, nuts or eggs – we will modify breakfast as well to have available what you can have if possible.)
We have a very busy kitchen in a very small space and therefore we are not able to offer the option for retreatants to cook or prepare anything in our kitchen. There is a designated storage box in the lodge for retreatants to store non-perishable food, as we do not allow food in the casitas, yurts or tents.
Given the remote nature of our retreat center and limited time we have to prepare meals, we can only accommodate special requests that are medically necessary. It takes great effort and planning to put together the meals we offer. We receive no deliveries at the retreat center and the nearest store is 1-1/2 hours away. Thank you for your consideration.
Bringing your own food
Fridge space at Vallecitos is extremely limited. Only retreatants who have a
medical need for bringing and storing perishable food or medication may do so with prior notice and
approval by Vallecitos staff. Retreatants may bring a small amount of non-perishable food to store in
the Vallecitos lodge. Given wildlife and bugs, food is not allowed in accommodations. Please contact
us by email if you have any questions or need to request permission to bring food.
