Whether your hair is cut for $20, or you
run into Manhattan for a styling with $600 diva clipper Sally
Hershberger, your appointment will happen in a salon.
If you want to throw a massage and maybe some aromatherapy into
the works, you’ll visit a salon-day spa.
But if you want true pampering and even a good meal, you’ll head
to Cavale Tonuzi in Bay Ridge, one of Brooklyn’s uber-salon-and-spas.
Opened in 2000, the 6,000-square-foot space sprawls over three
floors. The two that are open to the public include a cool, white
upstairs area where black-clad stylists cut and color clients’
hair before long mirrors, with a Tantra Spa on the lower level
that is all dark, Indonesian drama.
In the lower level’s manicure and pedicure areas, the lights
are kept low and moody and mirrored pillows line plush banquettes
while clients relax. Yanni-esque New Age music is piped into
the four "tranquility rooms," where seemingly every
variation on the massage, facial and waxing is administered.
Each room has a different theme; for instance, in the water room,
river rocks line the floor and the sound of a trickling stream
lulls patrons.
A year ago, owners Violette Tonuzi, Georgette Franzone and Charbel
Elias opened the Lite Bar, adjoining the salon. It’s a small,
airy, all-white room with a counter that seats about five. Behind
the counter, the eatery’s manager, Chris Daly, blends smoothies,
pours freshly brewed teas and tops fresh fruit salad with yogurt
and organic granola. Just across from the counter is a small
kitchen where the chef, Carolina Saenz, turns out fare that is
worth a visit, whether you’re having your hair streaked or not.
Everything you’d expect from a cafe in a health club or salon
is available – smoothies, salads and sandwiches – but unlike
dry sandwiches heaped with sprouts and under-dressed salads,
Saenz’s fare is vibrant and full-flavored. There are smoothies
galore – 12 on the menu – but they can be personalized, so the
choices are endless. They’re fine as smoothies go, but the sandwiches
and salads are far better than you’d expect from a tiny kitchen
in a salon.
Saenz owned the now-defunct Grass Roots, a small Bay Ridge restaurant
that, if you haven’t guessed, specialized in light, healthy cuisine.
She uses mostly local, organic ingredients and good olive oil,
and she doesn’t scrimp on seasoning. Saenz grills eggplants,
tomatoes and peppers in that tiny kitchen and, unlike the flaccid
vegetables that you sometimes find between dull bread, hers are
velvety-textured with a concentrated, earthy taste.
Saenz isn’t afraid to use cheese. Her best sandwiches have a
rich smear of full-flavored goat or a good, pungent blue cheese.
All of her dressings are house-made, as is the pesto that lights
up the vegetable panini.
The egg, chicken and tuna salads are constructed per order so
there are no tubs of over-processed salads sitting around. The
whole-grain breads and ciabatta used for crisp panini are delivered
daily from Mazzola’s, a well-known Brooklyn purveyor. Even the
wraps are fresh and pleasantly chewy.
The chicken wrap, says Saenz, is a customer favorite, and for
good reason. The organic chicken sandwich is moist, the blue
cheese is pungent and plentiful and sun-dried cranberries add
a sweet note and enjoyable chewiness. Crisp walnuts and arugula
mixed with olive oil freshen the filling. It’s like Thanksgiving
on a roll.
I loved the grilled vegetable panini with goat cheese, pesto
and vinaigrette. No one would call it light fare, but after consuming
so many lusterless versions of this sandwich, I was okay with
the calories.
And atop rich, grilled Portobello mushrooms and slices of marinated
artichoke hearts were leaves of fresh basil, an unctuous dollop
of pesto, delectably salty olive paste and goat cheese grilled
in a fresh pita.
Come spring, I plan on taking that sandwich, or maybe the crisp
baby spinach salad drizzled with a garlicky, yellow plum tomato
dressing, into the shady garden behind the salon to enjoy a leisurely
lunch.
Desserts made in-house are limited to fruit salads and yogurt
with fruit and granola. On the counter there’s an enormous cookie
jar filled with home-baked chocolate chip and all-chocolate cookies.
They’re OK if you like the soft kind.
When you think of better salons, buzz-words like "pampering,"
"personalized care" and even "transformation"
come to mind. Enjoying good food in a salon, however, is uncommon,
and that’s where Cavale Tonuzi is a cut above the rest.
Lite Bar at Cavale Tonuzi (8211 Third
Ave. at 82nd Street in Bay Ridge) accepts American Express, MasterCard
and Visa. Salads and sandwiches: $5-$6.50. The Lite Bar is open
Tuesday through Sunday from 11 am to 6 pm. Closed Mondays. Takeout
and delivery is available to the surrounding neighborhood. For
more information about the Lite Bar and services offered at Cavale
Tonuzi and the Tantra Spa call (718) 748-9880.
