Cuisine Vitale at Sofitel: So light, so right

Eat like the French and lose weight.  Oui, it’s no secret that the French have the bodies to die for (or should we say, to diet for) because 1. they don’t skip breakfast, 2. they don’t snack, 3. they eat a full meal, 4. French cuisine is full of fruits and vegetables, 5. they take a glass of wine with their meals  (grapes contain resveratrol that’s said to protect against cancer), 6. they get physical, like walk a lot.

Well, now, you can eat like the French and have the body you’ve been craving. Sofitel Philippine Plaza brings the touted French joie de vivre to Manila via Cuisine Vitale at Spiral with its lavish buffet offerings of over 300 dishes.

At least for one meal (lunch), we tried to eat like the French at the launch of the Spa Asia Wellness Summit 2007, where Sofitel’s executive chef Christian Werdenberg dished up hearty but healthy French cuisine that tickled our tummies and warmed our hearts.

Cuisine Vitale (a cuisine for life), according to Werdenberg, is designed and prepared to retain its intrinsic natural flavors. Thus, the dishes are steamed, poached, and contain less fat, less cream, and less salt. On  the other hand, herbs, spices, and the chefs’ innovative cooking methods bring out the natural flavors of food while enhancing their taste.

“Cuisine Vitale consists of light and refreshing choices that promote a healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet,” says Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila general manager Bernd Schneider.

Going into extensive research about cuisine vitale, Sofitel’s culinary team has put together a smorgasbord of dishes  that are low in calories (less than 40 calories per serving — count ’em), cholesterol-free (less than 2 mg. of cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving), or low in cholesterol (20 mg. or less of cholesterol per serving and 2 grams or less of saturated fat per serving).  More, only the best and freshest ingredients are used and the natural taste of the food is preserved to bring dining to the next level: Healthy food that’s good for the body and the soul.

So, how good was our Cuisine Vitale lunch?

For starters, we had appetizer samplers like cured citrus salmon — did we tell you that salmon is packed with vitamin A and carotenoids and can help prevent cancer?  An average portion of salmon provides over half the daily allowance of protein and contains far less saturated fat than an equal portion of any other meat or poultry protein source. Salmon is also an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids that are known to prevent heart disease. Oh, before I forget, salmon is also a brain food or memory enhancer.

I’m not much of an oyster eater, but my lunchmates downed their gazpacho-oyster shooters in one robust gulp. Surely, there wasn’t a dry mouth around. Did you know that this prized shellfish is nature’s best source of zinc, that’s said to help boost male virility?

Other appetizers that vied for our taste buds were the grilled vegetable salad with feta cheese, lettuce spring roll with tamarind shrimps (did you know that tamarind is good for diabetics as it lowers cholesterol and blood sugar levels?), eggplant and feta roll with pine nuts, and fresh pomelo salad with shrimps (did you know that the potassium-rich pomelo can help regulate blood pressure and control migraines?). Please pass the pomelo!

Enjoy your salad days and dress up your salad with low-fat choices like vegetable vinaigrette (only 4-5 calories, 0.05 g. fat, 0 saturated fat, 0 cholesterol); strawberry vinaigrette (only 4 calories, 0.3 g. fat, 0.05 g. saturated fat, 0 cholesterol); citrus vinaigrette (15 calories, 0.6 g. fat, 0.12 g. saturated fat, 0 cholesterol); tropical vinaigrette (18 calories, 0.37 fat, 1 g. saturated fat, 0 cholesterol).

Now, you can stop counting and start enjoying your meal. A soup-er feature of Cuisine Vitale is its trio of soups — herbal fumet with tapioca, jellied chicken and shiitake consomme, and light cream soup of ginger with poppy seeds.

After that light seduction, prepare to be titillated by Cuisine Vitale’s main attractions: seared tuna with white beans ruccola and lemon confit, grilled veal loin with roasted pepper sauce, palak paneer (Indian cottage cheese with spinach), Chinese steamed bean curd and mixed vegetable roll with oyster sauce, Japanese chawanmushi (steamed egg dish) with wild rice and steamed vegetables.

And to cap your affair with French cuisine, surrender to the sweet wiles of such scents-ual desserts as the pistachio and raspberries layer cake, light citrus cheesecake, orange and calamansi cloud in shoot glass, creamy chocolate and praline cake, and warm mango and green tea upside-down dessert.

Here’s more delicious news: Cuisine Vitale will be a permanent feature of all the different stations at Spiral, an interactive dining destination, and will also be offered in all the other outlets of the hotel plus room service. Oui, you heard that right.

And fret not, the labels on the food are not in French as in the menu of fine-dining restaurants where the French dishes are better eaten than pronounced. And as one sage said, “If you can’t pronounce it, you can’t afford it.”

At the Mediterranean section, all Cuisine Vitale dishes are cooked with extra virgin oil while the salads have home-made low-fat vinaigrette dressings. Vegetables and herbs come fresh daily from some of Tagaytay’s organic farms.  Over at the Chinese station, you’ve got steamed fish fillet and other fresh catch. And  hai, at the Japanese station, there are healthy options galore (did you know that in Okinawa, Japan, there are more people over 100 years old than anywhere else in the world?).

At Cuisine Vitale, healthy doesn’t have to be boring. And oui, everybody had loads of fun we didn’t catch anyone making a French leave.

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For reservations and more information, call 551-5555, local 6988 or 1086 for Spiral.