The image of ‘spa cuisine’ tends to center around tofu and bean sprouts. But most spa chefs have a beef with the stereotype. In celebrating Healing Lifestyles and Spa’s tenth anniversary, we’ve asked ten of the men and women changing the image of spa dining to weigh-in on the challenges and secrets of creating spa cuisine.
James Boyce, Executive Chef: Montage Resort and Spa, Laguna Beach, CA
Initially experimenting with nutritionally dense, low calorie foods to shed unwanted pounds, Boyce has paved the way for a lighter style of American fine dining. And though he is a trim sportsman today, Boyce’s year-old daughter inspires him to continue to cook healthfully at home.
How do you approach creating spa cuisine?
I cook classic food, because that’s how I was trained. I don’t really think of myself as a spa chef, but more of a deconstructionist, working to reduce calories and rebuild dishes with texture and spice.
Doug Barg, Executive Chef: Topnotch Resort and Spa, Stowe, VT
As the executive chef for one of Vermont’s most popular resorts, Barg faces the challenge of appealing to the tastes of youngsters, outdoorsmen, fine food aficionados, and, of course, the guests of Topnotch’s spa. By focusing his food on high-quality, seasonal, New England ingredients, Barg has risen to the challenge amid accolades.
Is it more challenging to create spa cuisine than traditional menus?
Spa cuisine can be more challenging because you eliminate the easy texture and flavor items that help any dish to be yummy, i.e.: sugar, butter, cream, and other fats.
What advice on healthy cooking do you have for the home chef?
Cooking should be fun. There should be a joy in preparing healthy, nutritional meals to share with the ones you love. Just be organized and break recipes down into manageable parts so come mealtime you’re just warming food and enjoying your family.
Terry Conlan, Executive Chef: Lake Austin Spa Resort, Austin, TX
Conlan has been a prominent figure on the American spa scene since 1992. The author of FRESH: Healthy Cooking and Living from Lake Austin Spa Resort, Conlan’s cuisine is influenced by global flavors; but what guests at Lake Austin most appreciate are the robust flavors prominent in even the lowest calorie of his dishes.
To what degree do you think a spa menu should be influenced by diet trends?
I’m not much interested in ‘trends’. As best I can tell diet trends are just a vehicle to sell books. The old, but not sexy, truths still hold us in good stead: diversity and moderation. No forbidden foods. The only relevant questions are quality, quantity, and frequency.
Do you recommend olive or grape seed oil?
I love olive oil, but grape seed oil is very good and useful for whenever high temperatures are involved or the flavor of olive oil is inappropriate.
Chris Swensen, Chef de Cuisine: La Quinta Resort and Club, La Quinta, CA
Sun worshippers flock to La Quinta Resort’s spa for it’s wide variety of services based on Native American tradition, the Yamaguchi Salon, and its WellMax Center for preventative medicine. And while they’re in residence, Swensen makes sure guests have plenty of healthy options on the resort’s menus.
How do you define spa cuisine?
Spa cuisine is natural, healthy, and light. Our menu items contain a lot of vegetables with moderate levels of protein and carbohydrate.
Do you believe that drinking alcohol can be a part of a healthy diet?
I, like many others, feel that alcohol, in moderation, can not only be part of a healthy diet, but can also enhance the overall spa dining experience, just as it can with less healthful cuisines.
Bruno Tison, Executive Chef: Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, Sonoma, CA
As the head chef of one of California’s most historic inns and spas, Tison’s job description includes not only making sure the cuisine of SMI’s fine dining restaurant, Sante, lives up to it’s award-winning reputation, but that the resort caters to the food and wine crowd as well as the hungry spa goers with fresh, healthy,and satisfying spa cuisine.
How do you steer spa guests toward healthy choices in Sante?
I think our menu blends well with spa cuisine. A lot of Sante’s dishes have no cream or butter. We focus on organics and fresh produce.
Do you make the same considerations in your own diet that you make in the restaurant?
Yes. I’m a great believer in eating healthy. I love food so much that I can’t stay away from indulgent foods, but only on occasion.
Daniel Chong-Jimenez, Executive Chef: The Spa at Norwich Inn, Norwich, CT
Chong-Jimenez has designed spa menus for the Norwich Inn since 2000, but he’s cooked spa cuisine at some of America’s top resorts since 1997. Chong-Jimenez also currently works with New England-based Dr. Billy Johnson on a program called ‘Ultimate Diet Plus’ to help clients achieve and maintain weight loss goals.
What do you see as the challenge of creating spa cuisine?
Most people believe that spa cuisine has to be low in calories but the concept here is different. Our cuisine is focused on nutritionally dense foods. I don’t limit meat portions to three ounces in the tradition of many spas. Instead, I’ll serve a typical restaurant size, like a six-ounce steak but use high quality, organic meats. At dinner, we limit carbs and base dishes on protein and vegetables. The idea is to serve meals based on the activity periods of a typical day at our spa.
How do you maintain healthy cooking at home?
I love to steam in foil in the toaster oven. I preheat the oven at 400F and then wrap up some fish, vegetables, and seasoning in foil and steam. It’s simple and clean-up free.
Chad Luethje, Executive Chef: Red Mountain Spa, St. George, UT
Best known as the ‘adventure resort’, Red Mountain caters to hikers, mountain bikers, and those looking to lose excess weight through fitness. As Red Mountain’s chef, Luethje has to meet the challenge of creating cuisine that is packed with the nutrients needed for physical performance while maintaining both calorie control and flavor.
Being a Southwestern destination, how do the flavors of the Southwest influence Red Mountain’s cuisine?
We have many different flavors in our cuisine. In addition to assorted spices of the Southwest, we use fresh herbs from our garden, citrus, lime leaves, aged vinegars, and truffle oil to boost flavor naturally.
Do you have a favorite ingredient?
Agave nectar, especially for baking. It makes a healthy and tasty substitute for sugar or processed fructose.
If you had to give just one tip for cooks at home, what would it be?
Put your cooking oil into a mister or a spray bottle to cut down on the amount of oil you’re using to cook with; use only enough oil to lightly coat the bottom of the pan.
Michael Scott, Chef de Cuisine: Fairmont Southampton Princess, Southampton, Bermuda
Though the culinary challenges he prefers run more along the lines of twice cooked pork belly, Scott rose to the occasion when the Southampton requested that he add spa cuisine to the menu of his gracious, French-inspired restaurant, the Newport Room, as a part of the hotel’s Willow Stream Spa program.
Do you have a favorite healthy ingredient?
Raw fennel makes great salads and cooked, it is good for broths.
What sweetener do you recommend for making lighter desserts?
I love to use fresh fruit like pears, mangoes, and peaches. Always use fresh, seasonal ingredients.
Gordon Maybury, Executive Chef: Peninsula New York, New York, NY
In helping to launch ‘Peninsula Wellness’, the Peninsula Hotel brand’s body/mind rejuvenation program in the summer of 2006, Maybury immersed himself in the world of spa cuisine.
If you could recommend one thing to eliminate from a kitchen to make more healthy cooking choices at home, what would it be?
Eliminate the microwave. With a microwave, there is the tendency to buy frozen TV dinners that are loaded with sodium. You can make a grilled chicken salad, or poach a piece of fish in the same amount of time.
Do you have any chef’s secrets to share with home cooks?
Buy one good sharp knife, you don’t need a block of twenty. Buy one good pan that can go in the oven and cook simply. For example, take a piece of fish, season with black pepper, put a little olive oil in the pan, put the fish in, [add]some sliced vegetables, carrot, fennel, red onion, celery, whatever you like really, squeeze in some fresh lemon, cover the pan with foil and put in a hot oven for 15 minutes.
Michael Beck, Executive Chef: Rancho Valencia Resort and Spa, Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Overseeing the kitchen of Rancho Valencia would be challenge enough for any fine chef. But to add to his repertoire of Franco-Italian inspired cuisine, Beck began incorporating spa cooking to Rancho’s gastronomic delights in the summer of 2006 to align the award-winning culinary program with the philosophy of Rancho’s new 10,000-square-foot spa retreat.
How do you define spa cuisine?
The challenge is to cook as healthy as possible and still make sure it doesn’t taste just like rabbit food. It still has to be exciting, fun, full of flavor, and satisfying.
What is your favorite healthy ingredient?
I love healthy, unsaturated oils such as pumpkin seed, distel (cactus), or avocado. I think using the right oil is important not only in salads or vinaigrettes but to finish sauces or just add richness and flavor to the dish.
Are you a fan of dairy or soy?
If I use cheese, then I use goat or feta cheese. So in that case it would be dairy. Yogurt is great for dressings or even to marinate. Soy is great if you make shakes or smoothies but I prefer brown rice milk.
GRILLED CHICKEN AND RED GRAPE PITA
By Executive Chef James Boyce, Studio at Montage Resort & Spa
Serves 4INGREDIENTS
4 6-ounce skinless and boneless chicken breasts (preferably organic)
juice and zest from 1 lemon
1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1 tsp. Tabasco
salt to taste
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup finely diced celery
2 tbs. red wine vinegar
2 tbs. chopped parsley
1 tbs. chopped cilantro
1/2 cup seedless red grapes, halved
4 pita breads
PREPARATION
In a medium mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and let sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from bowl and season with salt. Using an outdoor grill or stove-top grill pan, cook over medium heat for approximately 5 to 8 minutes each side, or until cooked through. Cool and cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Set aside.
In another medium mixing bowl place yogurt, celery, vinegar, parsley, cilantro, grapes, and mix well. Add cooked chicken and let sit in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Stuff in a pita and serve with your favorite greens on the side.
Coconut Tres Leches Cake with Caramelized Bananas
By Chef Terry Conlan, featured in FRESH: Healthy Cooking and Living from Lake Austin Spa Resort
Serves 16
INGREDIENTS
2 cups sifted cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 tsp. salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup light butter, softened
1/2 cup pur©ed bananas (approximately 1/2 banana)
3/4 cup skim milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. pure coconut extract
1/2 cup egg whites, stiffly beaten
1/2 (14-ounce) can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
3/4 cup evaporated skim milk
2/3 cup light coconut milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs. dark rum
4 bananas, sliced
12/3 cups fat-free whipped topping
2 tbs. toasted shredded coconut
PREPARATION
For the Cake: Sift the cake flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Cream the sugar, butter, and banana pur©e in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and 1/3 of the skim milk alternately; mixing well after each addition. Mix in the vanilla and coconut extracts. Fold in the egg whites. Spray a 6 x 8-inch cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Flour the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake at 375F for 50 minutes or until the cake tests done. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Combine the condensed milk, 3/4 cup skim milk, and coconut milk in a bowl; mix well. Arrange the cake on a serving platter. Poke holes all over the cake with a wooden pick or skewer. Spoon the milk mixture over the cake. Cover the cake and chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
For the Bananas: Combine the brown sugar and rum in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the mixture reduces to a syrupy consistency. Add the bananas and stir gently to coat the fruit. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature. Top each serving of cake with whipped topping and a scattering of toasted coconut. Serve the bananas on the side.
Pineapple and Coconut Shot
By Chef Michael Scott of the Fairmont Southampton
INGREDIENTS
1 whole fresh pineapple
1 can coconut milk
1 tbs. sugar
1 gelatin sheet (soaked in water with the excess water squeezed out)
PREPARATION
Place the pineapple through a juicer and strain through a fine sieve; chill until needed. Place the coconut milk, sugar, water, and gelatin in a bowl and heat on the stove till the gelatin is melted. Whip with a hand blender until foamy. Place chilled pineapple juice in 2.5 oz shot glass and top with foam.
By Amy Reiley
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