Check in for health
Four Seasons’ spa and menu get a makeover.
The Spa at the Four Seasons Hotel Houston has landed on the cover of this month’s American Spa magazine. Why? It recently completed a multimillion-dollar renovation (with design from Houston-based Rottet Studio), the first phase of property-wide enhancements that will bring the downtown hotel up to top-tier standards.
But the physical transformation wasn’t limited to the spa and fitness center. The spa’s food menu got a makeover, too, courtesy of Maurizio Ferrarese, executive chef of the hotel’s Quattro restaurant and Vinoteca Quattro wine bar. It’s a menu that has health and well-being in mind, packed with vitamins and fibers without stinting on flavor.
Breakfast options include coconut and chia seed pudding; Berry Explosion salad (mixed berries, nuts, kiwi and yogurt dressing); and an AcaiBerry Smoothie frothed with antioxidants, amino acids and vitamins. Salads include the Signature Power Bowl (garbanzo beans, almonds, walnuts, dried berries, seeds and local goat cheese) and
a spinach and Chayote Squash Salad with orange vinaigrette.
Wraps come with a choice of garden or fruit salad; the burger features a meatless patty of bulgur and mushroom dressed with a curry yogurt sauce. Two entrees suggest dining room indulgence: grilled salmon with cilantro sauce, and Tandoori Ginger Chicken. So good you might forget the bonus Omega-3 fatty acids in the salmon dish or ginger’s digestive and immune system benefits in the curry chicken.
Ferrarese has larded the spa menu with local produce, proteins and cheeses where possible. The food is available throughout the day in the actual spa, as well as on the adjoining pool deck. And if you ask nicely, the hotel will no doubt let you order as room service or in the hotel restaurant.