Eating for Health!

 

 
The boom in the health market has generated phenomenal growth for spas, fitness clubs, etc. A segment that used to be a niche market is developing – suitably attired in wellness garb – into the lifestyle standard for broad groups of consumers. A few hours in the sauna, a visit to the thermal baths as a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, a week’s rest and recuperation in a wellness hotel – relaxation, regeneration and fitness in harmony with the desire for pleasure. And rounding off the range of services with F&B facilities makes everything perfect for both guests and operators. A subject with a bright future – a tour of Europe to sample the delights of spa cuisine.
 

 

 
Bad Aibling thermal baths: the Bavarian health resort invested €25 m in its new wellness centre, opened last autumn. The new thermal baths offer a variety of facilities, including saunas, outdoor pools, hammam, massage and mud treatments, as well as health-oriented foodservice operated by Munich-based caterers, Arena One. There are 120 foodservice seats in different areas of the baths plus, depending on the weather, another 40 in the sauna garden, some of them for non-bathers. Dishes in the central kitchen are primarily freshly made and primarily aimed at nutrition-conscious guests. In addition to a salad bar and wellness drinks, the dining scene is set by dishes such as butterfish in a herb crust with spinach or fusilli with parsley walnut sauce and parmesan cheese. Rounding off the menu are regional specialities, such as mini-liver loaf with potato-pumpkin salad and, in deference to popular tastes, ‘currywurst’ with special sauce (all €8.50). The motto is “something for everyone”. With special herbs and products from its own nutritional line, proVis, Arena One is pursuing the food concept, ‘Experience your Senses’, used in event catering. The average bill, including the Espresso Bar – varies between €6.50 and 8.50. At the weekend, between 1,700 and 1,800 guests, both locals and holidaymakers, avail themselves of the baths’ foodservice facilities.
 
www.therme-bad-aibling.de, www.arena-one.com
 

 

 
Opened in 2005, the Wine & Spa Resort Loisium Hotel in Langenlois, Austria, is distinguished by world-class architecture and an emphasis on the delights of good wine and appeal spa facilities. The avant-garde hotel designed by star architect Steven Holl offers an urbane lifestyle surrounded by vineyards. The pastel green shades of the spa area (950 sq m) pay homage to the colour characteristic of the wine typical to the region, Grüner Veltliner. The hotel’s interpretation of wellness begins in the spa area with specially developed wine treatments. The concept is continued in the restaurant with a range of healthy, light and varied dishes . Main-course prices range from €15-25 and include specialities, such as mustard tagliatelle, morels and pieces of chicken breast and brook trout poached in olive oil with tomatoes and estragon gnocchi. The most popular beverages: water, wine and regional fruit juices. The most popular food: Austria specialities. “However, they are always prepared in a lighter, more modern way,” says Management Assistant Ulrike Brandner-Lauter.
 
www.loisiumhotel.at
 

 

 
As from March, three establishments affiliated to the French ‘Thermale du Soleil’ chain will be offering ‘active lean cuisine’ developed by the wellknown chef Michel Guérard and bearing his stamp: Le Grand Hôtel in Molitg, La Pinède in Amélie and La Crémaillère in Gréoux. The chain brings together 21 resorts in France under its umbrella, but at the outset the concept will apply to only three of them, all top class hotel-restaurants specially selected by the chef. “Our chefs will go to train with Guérard and will add our own regional touch in adapting the dishes created by him,” explains Jean-Pierre Montoya, director of the centre at Gréoux-les-Bains, which every year welcomes 30,000 guests, who come for thermal spa treatments. La Crémaillère will specialise in this food concept, which is “still geared to dietary requirements but which is more fun and less constraining for the clientele in general”. There will be a set menu offered (starter, main course, dessert) in the €25-30 price range, which will change daily and an à la carte menu with a wide range of choices which will vary according to the seasons. The details will be unveiled in March but, in essence, it will be a cuisine “for losing weight in a genial and enjoyable way.” Olive and rapeseed oils will almost totally replace butter and cream, synthetic sugars will be abandoned in favour of natural fructose. A Eugénie slimming infusion will be offered as an aperitif and fine wines will be served at table.
 
www.chainethermale.fr
 

 

 
Yasuragi means ‘inner peace and harmony’ in Japanese. Yasuragi Hasseludden is a spa and meeting hotel about 20 minutes outside Stockholm where you can enjoy bathing of various kinds: hot indoor and outdoor springs, and cool refreshing pools, as well as overnight stays and Japanese food. Guests can further enjoy a number of activities related to the far eastern theme, such as the tea ceremony, origami courses, Qi gong classes, a sushi school and of course, a range of massages and spa treatments. Yasuragi Hasseludden has two restaurants; Teppanyaki and Tokyo which can accommodate up 300 guests. Both of these serve Japanese cuisine, whereas the daytime menu in the Tokyo restaurant will also include food inspired by other Asian cuisines. Japanese food in itself could be defined as ‘wellfood’ because of its pure, healthy ingredients, as well as its traditional methods of preparation. In Japanese cuisine, the aim is to achieve the three fives. Each meal should comprise five colours, five methods of preparation, and five flavours. The essential colours are black, white, yellow, red and green. Food is prepared using methods such as boiling, grilling, frying, steaming, and can also of course be served raw. The flavours that should feature are sweet, sour, umami, bitter, and salty. Teppanyaki has 12 large tables, each with its own chef preparing food in the middle. The Teppanyaki chefs have several years’ experience at the famous Sazanka Teppanyaki restaurant in Amsterdam. Guests can choose one of the five-course set menus or select from the à la carte menu.
 
www.hasseludden.com
 

 

 
At the 5-star Hotel Palace Lucerne, a member of the Victoria Jungfrau Collection group of hotels, guests are not only offered spa food in the health and fitness area. Indeed, spa food is a theme of the two hotel restaurants, ‘Jasper’ and ‘Les Artistes’, and stands for a balanced F&B choice for guests who want more than just the typical range of diet and low-calorie cuisine and whole foods. The concept splits the dishes into ‘Spa Food’ for physical well being and ‘Mood Food’ for mental balance. “For our ‘Spa Food’ , we prefer foodstuffs with a high proportion of vegetable-based nutrients, such as corn, vegetables, fruit and pulses,” explains F&B Manager Frank Reutlinger. “In distinction, ‘Mood Food’ is a veritable festival for the soul – a deliberately sensuous experience. A large proportion of carbohydrates helps overcome depressiveness while sweet dishes revitalise tired bodies.” Thus, the menu includes chocolate, pineapple, pasta, hot Indian curries and spicy wok dishes. There are no foodservice facilities in the Palace Spa itself. However, guests can book the ‘Spa meets Jasper’ arrangement: a selection of health and fitness services combined with a two or three course meal in Restaurant Jasper. For example, 2.5 hours of treatments in the spa + 2 Spa Food dishes cost €256 (excluding beverages). Additionally, the hotel offers guests private spa arrangements, e.g., ‘Private Spa Ritual Pearl (4 hours, €563 for two people), which includes herbal tea, fresh fruit and iced water during the treatments, and a light spa lunch served in the hotel suite.
 
www.palace-luzern.ch
 

 

 
Varbergs Kurort Hotel & Spa is part of the Scandinavian hotel group Comwell, which has 13 spa and conference hotels in Denmark and Sweden. The Varbergs Kurort is beautifully situated right by the sea on Sweden’s west coast. Here, food is considered to be one of the four important building blocks of the Spa concept: nutrition, massage, activity and rest. Food is thought to be a source of wellbeing and a joy for all the senses. This is achieved by serving food made from high quality, natural and locally produced ingredients. The hotel restaurant ‘Salt & Vatten’ (Salt & Water) has three dining rooms with a total of 240 seats. The food concept is called ‘The Conscious Kitchen’. Cooking fats such as olive oil and rapeseed oil are used and meals are cooked at low temperatures to preserve both taste and nutrients. Butter and heavy cream are not banned altogether but stocks and reductions are preferred as taste enhancers. Lunch and dinner guests are offered a Spa buffet including fish, meat and vegetarian main courses with plenty of fresh as well as cooked vegetables. In the evening there are also three and four course gourmet menus. The hotel’s own nutrition specialist will design individual diets upon request.
 
www.varbergskurort.se
 

 
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| 13 March 2008 |