THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY,
MARCH 16, 2003LONG ISLAND JOURNAL
SPA TREATMENTS WITH DESSERT TOPPINGS
By Marcelle S. Fischler
Like a cake being frosted, Sharyn Bradford lay on a treatment table in a dimly lighted suite at the Village Spa in Roslyn. She closed her eyes and sighed. Deana Reyburn, a licensed massage therapist, slathered a warm, smooth concoction of chocolate syrup and sea clay from Ms. Bradford’s neck to her perfectly pedicured toes, applying the mud with her hands in overlapping circles as if she were fingerpainting.
On the table next to Ms. Bradford, her husband, Glenn, moaned. Carl Miluso, another therapist, kneaded and rubbed Mr. Bradford’s neck and shoulders in a deep-tissue massage. Mr. Bradford reached out unsuccessfully to touch his wife’s hand. “How are you doing, Sharyn?” said Mr. Bradford, asking about the progress of her chocolate wrap. “I’m like a chocolate kiss now,” Ms. Bradford murmured dreamily as Ms. Reyburn wrapped her in a foil cocoon. Soothing music played. Water trickled from a small fountain in the corner of the room. The scent of chocolate, rich and luscious, wafted through the air. The evening had just begun. “We want to get away for a few hours and feel like we are away”, said Ms. Bradford, 35, of Sea Cliff, an artist with three children, ages 6, 4 and 10 months.
Day spas have popped up all over the Island in the past few years, perfect for a quick massage or facial and a brief respite during the week. Now the sybaritic are booking spa appointments for ladies’ nights out and Saturday night dates, savoring treatments for two instead of dinner and a movie.
“It’s a little bit of luxury”, said Ms. Bradford, who booked the tete-a-tete spa experience to celebrate her husband’s 40th birthday. She said it was an escape for an evening from “a crazy, hectic type of scheduled life, carpools and work.”
“We need to have time for ourselves,” she added. It wasn’t quite like going away to a destination spa, Ms. Bradford said, but then she didn’t have to pack. “I think you get the same benefit,” Ms. Bradford said. “It’s a great way to de-stress.”
At The Village Spa, a quaint retreat with the ambiance of a bed-and-breakfast without the brass bed, the pampering didn’t stop with a chocolate wrap, melon massage or a fresh fruit facial. After their treatments, the Bradfords had an hour to relax in their suite, take a steam shower, watch a DVD, listen to music or access the Internet.
Rick Joseph, 42, the owner of the spa, said the grown-up toys were part of the 31/2-hour indulgence. “This is an experience,” Mr. Joseph said. “This is not just a matter of getting a massage. What I do here is exactly what I want for myself. It’s really about being fussy.”
The Bradfords ignored the television and computer. No cellphones, no children. In the past they had gotten spa treatments alone. What they wanted to do, they said, was to unwind as a couple. “This is an environment that we could really lose ourselves in, “said Mr. Bradford, a jewelry designer and owner of a gallery in Roslyn that bears his name. He was wearing a fluffy terry cloth robe and sitting at a candlelit table, barefoot and relaxed after the massage and a half-hour reflexology treatment. Seeing his wife in a new way, covered in chocolate and having her by his side while they both were coddled, made the encounter even more enjoyable, he said.
Then Robert Rizzuto came in the room, pushing a cooking cart. Mr. Rizzuto, 43, is a professor and executive chef at the De Seversky Center at the New York Institute of Technology. “You must be relaxed by now,” he said to the couple. “Hungry?” “And with that, Mr. Rizzuto whipped up a three-course meal, including a salad tossed with Gorgonzola and slices of duck breast:; rack of lamb for Mr. Bradford and roasted salmon for Ms. Bradford. Ms. Bradford said that she had a live-in housekeeper at home who cooks while she “directs.”
Ms. Bradford shelled out $615 for this enchanted evening (couples massages start at $180). She explained that a private chef was “part of the feeling of being away.” While they dined, Mr. Joseph placed warm buckwheat-filled wraps on their necks. The Bradfords soaked their feet and rolled their toes over marbles in tubs of hot water spiked with geranium rose oil. Then Mr. Rizzuto served dessert: dark chocolate pyramids filled with white and milk chocolate mousse. Ms. Bradford savored a forkful. “It wasn’t bad on my arms,” she said, noting her skin felt as smooth as a chocolate truffle. “But it’s better in my mouth.”
Ms. Bradford glanced at her husband: Well, happy birthday,” she said, clinking glasses. “Do you feel like a king for the evening?”
He smiled, a twinkle in his eye. Is it going to continue when we get home?”
“No comment,”, Ms. Bradford replied.
