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Where Los Angeles
February 2003

Spas Plus!
New Day spas might offer fine dining, gift boutiques or even boxing lessons.

By Benjamin Epstein

Newfangled treatments were no longer enough. With so many superb venues around town, diversification was the next step, and it puts a whole new face on spas. A visit becomes a one-stop experience that might incorporate fine dining, boutique shopping or even boxing lessons, all under the same roof.

Kinara – new from Christine Splichal, French-born wife of superchef Joachim Splichal – describes itself as "Spa, Cafe¢, Cadeaux." Individually tailored facials, developed by Yugoslavia native Olga Lorencin, may be the city’s best; one session was virtually a deep tissue facial, including a dozen stages ranging from low-tech orange lavender steam to high-tech ultrasound (not to mention extensive shoulder and neck massage). Kinara is Hindi for "on the edge," and Christine follows through with such intriguing concepts as pairing hydrotherapy with light therapy. There are wraps and (shhh) Botox, too.

For the boutique, she scours Paris for truly distinctive cadeaux (gifts) and clothing made by designers and artisans from locales such as Lebanon, Kashmir, Vietman and the Philippines. (We were taken with a father-son matching pajama set.) The café, overseen by Joachim, doesn’t just serve fabulous spa cuisine, it serves fabulous cuisine, period, somewhat rustic and intensely flavorful, at breakfast, lunch and tea time. Desserts include cookies from Christine’s father, a pastry chef in Biarritz.

Copyright 2003 • Where LA