Got an Extra $1,500? Let Them Eat Squab and Get a Facial at the Beverly Wilshire

Beverly Wilshire

Hay-smoked squab.

In these dark "Occupy" times, it is heartening to know that the abused and beleaguered "1 percent" has not been forgotten. Thinking up new ways to blow your millions can be so taxing.

Luckily there are still places like the Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel. Their executive chef Gilles Arzur has partnered with upscale Spanish skincare line Natura Bisse to offer a one-of-a-kind experience that combines spa treatments with avant-garde cooking along the lines of the late great El Bulli. The hotel calls their "A Taste of Beauty" offering "an unprecedented marvel drawing on gastronomy, luxury, beauty and technology."

The experience will set you back "beginning at" $1,500 per person, including tax and gratuities, with a minimum of six in your party. Reservations must be made at least a week in advance.

Beverly Wilshire

A scallop with mint jelly.

"Experience 1," the 90-minute spa portion, includes a facial with "energizing chakra maneuvers" and "carboxitherapy," and a "black magic" body scrub using a shimmering black mud made of micronized iron and real diamond dust.

"Experience 2," the seven-course gastronomy portion, mimics the steps of the spa experience with a decadent meal served in a private setting. It includes a "cleansing" rhubarb salad with olive oil powder and flavored pop rocks that explode in your mouth; a sepia ink-flavored risotto croquette hidden under a "magical" glass cloche; scallops over mint jelly finished with eucalyptus- and mint-infused foam and cocoa nibs, served over chakra gems, accompanied by a "refreshing menthol infusion towel and gemstone caress"; and hay-smoked squab served in individual Le Creuset pots with figs and a spiced sauce of cloves, cardamom and long pepper.

At the beginning of the dining experience, each guest is greeted by a spa therapist who performs "spa touches and inhalations" with Aroma Nectar Detox (essential oils of lemon, lavender, rosemary and sage) as a welcome. Your parting gifts are skincare items from the Natura Bisse Diamond Collection and your own chakra crystals. Guests who wish to experience "A Taste of Beauty" should call the Spa at the Beverly Wilshire at (310) 385-7023.

Enjoy your Clif bars in your Occupy tents, peasants.

S. Bonar