OP: Spa Food

Clarkson N. Potter, New York, 1985. Hardcover. Very Good Plus. First printing.

Edward J. Safdie (1938–2025), a stockbroker with a passion for preserving historical real estate, purchased the Sonoma Mission Inn in 1980 and invested several million dollars in its restoration and in the addition of a spa. Over the next few years, he opened several more spa spaces across the country, becoming a leading authority in the high-end diet food world for the next decade.

Safdie’s first book, Spa Food (1985), showcases the treatment one might expect at his luxury establishments. The cuisine itself feels like the logical, Californian evolution of France’s nouvelle cuisine and cuisine minceur, which emerged in the 1970s; Safdie, however, places much more emphasis on caloric intake, exercise, and overall nutritional value. 

The book was a massive success, speaking to the right demographic at the right time, and remained popular for years after it went out of print. Though the restrictiveness of some of the diet plans reads as extreme and dangerous, the recipes themselves offer creative solutions to different dietary needs.

You’ll find a “spa mayonnaise,” which employs tofu, yogurt, and a hardboiled egg (no oil) and “spa cream,” made with skim milk, barley malt sweetener, and vanilla as low fat/cholesterol alternatives to their brethren. Stuffed zucchini with tomato sauce or a vegetable terrine with wheat berries offer high-fiber replacements for meat dishes, nary a grain of salt to be found.

Very Good Plus, overall, with modest shelfwear and rounded fore corners. First printing.