Choice Morsel explores Spa Food, Part 4: Spa-tinis and Gourmet TV Trays

No tour of spa cuisine would be complete without a visit to some of our area’s hotels, where four star restaurants share their menus with sister spas.

High Society Slow-Down

The Four Seasons Hotel Seattle is just a year old, and everything about it is luxe. The 6000-square-foot Spa at Four Seasons features beautiful marble changing areas with a steam room (and a sauna in the women’s section). In the spa lounge, while waiting for a spa service, perhaps a "hot lava" massage or a Hollywood facial, you'll find a generous selection of complimentary snacks including fresh and dried fruits, roasted nuts, tea from a selection of Tea Forté pyramid infusers, and cold, filtered water flavored with lemon or cucumber slices.

You might not think to ask for more, but you should, otherwise you'll miss the spa's very own Spa-tinis, three fruity and refreshing non-alcoholic cocktails. The hotel’s ART Restaurant offers spa guests a finger-friendly spa menu, but regulars insist on ART's signature TV Trays, four courses served up on a square porcelain platter that's divided into compartments.

Read about more fantastic spa food after the jump.

The Market TV Tray I tasted (above) included an unctuous house-cured arctic char with champagne white fish caviar and a green vegetable salad topped with one perfectly seared scallop. The selection changes seasonally, and the June Tray will spotlight Copper River Salmon.

Rural R+R

If the idea of a hotel and spa in the country is more to your liking, then a short drive to Woodinville offers up a completely different experience. Walk through the doors of Willows Lodge, and you'll be guided through the expansive lodge lobby and out a side door, past a charming garden, (one of three on the property), before slipping into the intimate spa courtyard outfitted with lounge chairs and a hot tub.

The cozy Spa at Willows Lodge offers massages, wraps, facials, even reflexology. And in character with its lush surroundings, the spa menu from the Barking Frog restaurant boasts hearty salads including a decadent Dungeness Crab & Bacon Wrapped Prawn Cobb (above). You’ll find Barking Frog’s signature Grand Marnier Prawns swathed in aïoli (below) on the menu, too. This dish was once removed to make way for a new offering, but the outcry was such that it's back for good.

Some spa meals come with a healthy side, but those in the know ask instead for Chef Bobby Moore’s sweet potato fries, diet be damned! You won't find a list of cocktails —virgin or not — on this spa menu. Since you're in wine country, sip a glass of red or white from one of the more than sixty local wineries.

City Slicker’s Escape

If time constraints don't allow you to leave Seattle, then Hotel 1000 has the perfect solution.

Its spa offers monthly specials and — my favorite — pairs a 60-minute pedicure with a cocktail from the hotel’s restaurant, BOKA Kitchen + Bar. That’s my kind of multi-tasking!

This month, the Spaahh at Hotel 1000 offers a Mojito Pedicure, which includes a cucumber and mint foot scrub with BOKA’s Coconut Mojito. Bring a friend and make it the best hour of your day.

You can also order anything from BOKA’s menu including the restaurant’s seasonal grilled flatbread (below, fresh fruit or vegetable toppings change weekly), and for a non-alcoholic beverage option, don’t miss the Aahh...Spaahh, made with healing aloe vera juice. If your calendar is already booked for May, the Spaahh at Hotel 1000 has you covered. A Limoncello Pedicure is on tap for June.

Photos by Tracy Schneider

Read about the delicious Spa Food options at Bella Luna Spa, Kirkland’s Penterra Spa and Seattle's Banya 5, all on the Choice Morsel page.