A to Zen: Kinara Spa Treats Tinseltown
By Elizabeth Snead

Imagine a mélange of classic Eastern European skin care, high tech equipment, fine French food, and an array of international gifts. Throw it in a mod airy structure designed by a top architect and wrap it up in a Zen Franco-Balinese decor.

Welcome to Kinara, the cool new spa/cafe/gift shop in WeHo, (that's West Hollywood for you unhipsters) on North Robertson between Melrose and Santa Monica Blvd.

Kinara, in Hindi, means "reaching your spiritual goal" and "being on the cutting edge" which is just what Kinara partners, Yugoslavian skin guru Olga Lorencin and top LA restaurateur Christine Splichal, are doing.

"We felt what was missing in this neighborhood and in this industry was a one stop shopping for beauty and body treatments," Splichal says. "If you want to escape for a few hours of pampering you can call from your cell phone on the way here, order your favorite salad and it will be ready for you."

Spilchal's renowned master chef husband Joachim Splichal, of LA's Patina Group restaurants, designed the Kinara cafe menu which includes such healthy Mediterranean fare as Kabocha squash soup, tartines and wild salmon with artichokes downed with fresh juices, wines and champagne by the glass or the whole darn bottle. Breakfast can be red berries with organic nuts, soft-boiled eggs, homemade granola or fluffy croissants. Teatime offers the usual coffee standbys, green passion fruit and red lavender teas and spicy chai. And the desserts? Chocolate cake with orange salad, panna cotta and imported Noisetine cookies made by Christine's French dad?

Splichal has been a faithful client of Lorencin's for several years and three years ago, they got the idea to do a spa/cafe/gift shop with a one-stop approach. They converted an old West Hollywood vet/animal clinic in May and let über-architect Hagy Belzberg work his magic on the 4,500-square-foot airy, naturally sunlit facility.

"Our neighbors are very happy because now there is no more barking," says Splichal, but there is a lot of oohing and ahhing heard over the elegant interiors, with tufted leather and exotic wood furniture, Anichini and Etro upholstery and pillows in earth tones spiced with oranges and reds.

"Why does a spa have to be dark and claustrophobic?" Lorencin asks. "Who says that darkness is healing? What a strange concept. We thought, 'How about a spa where you feel like you are walking off the beach?' You never feel better than that and that is what we wanted Kinara to feel like."

Kinara is a perfect for bridal or baby showers, birthdays or just getting the gals together for mass mini-pedis with snacks (cucumber mint, lemon crab finger sandwiches, pita bread with homemade hummus and bit of the bubbly). If you've forgotten a gift, buy Indian loungewear, Far East glassware, Moroccan pillows, or French baby togs from the gift shop.

Kinara's body treatments range from custom facials for men and women to power peels ($150) There's a South Seas Soak, a Cleopatra Milk Bath, an Ache Break Bath and scrubs like the Turkish Salt Glow, Apricot Honey and a Bora Bora Scrub.

In addition to such skincare lines as Ayer-medic, Dermed, DDF and LaboHormeta, Kinara carries its own skin care line with green apple cleansing gel, lactic acid serum and lemon eucalyptus hydrator. Some interesting finds include Mentaten cream, a killer Yugoslavian moisturizer developed for burn victims, Ayer-Medic's eye and lip liner corrector and an all-purpose goop called Egyptian magic that works for the body, face, cuticles, hair, you name it.

Need a bit of Botox or a hit of collagen? A reputable dermatologist from Cedar Sinai is there every Wednesday afternoon to erase your lines and wrinkles.

Lorencin won't reveal her famous clients but if you hang a while, you'll see them after they've been scrubbed head to toe. We kept our eyes peeled for the likes of Christina Applegate and Natasha Henstridge during our visit.

Don't be fooled by Kinara's Zen beauty and pleasantries - It's still a hardcore destination for flawless face. "We're more a skin salon than a spa. We do serious skin care here," warns Lorencin, promising, "I will make you glowing and beautiful."