Does food put one in a good mood? Girlahead thinks so – but then she has just had a superb mezze, tasting plate of hommus, barbagannouj and much more, with fantastic hot olive bread, here at SIX SENSES SHARAHUT in the Negev Desert (Israel produces if anything a range of breads that are even more more-ish, if that is possible, than such countries as Austria, Belgium and France, gosh is it possible to say that?). There were great breads on the elaborately-decorated tables at the final gala banquet of The Global Wellness Symposium, at HILTON TEL AVIV. It was a good thing the breads were so yummy as the service was skilled but not exactly speedy-gonzalez. The meal proceeded at a leisurely pace from mezze (again) to seabream (again, that had been lunch, too) to portions of the world’s largest chickens. Delicious but overkill.
Everything was outsize that night. The auction was such a success that a total of $140,300 was raised for the Susie Ellis Foundation to enable diversification in the wellness space. Thanks to the professional lure of auctioneer Nancy Davis, Chief Creative Officer of The Global Wellness Institute GWI, the owners of KAMALAYA, in Koh Samui, John and Karina Stewart, added a stay at their resort. It seemed everyone was on a high, for an admirable cause.
Sue Harmsworth, GWI’s 2022 First Lady of Wellness – not exactly her title but ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’ – wore a floating blue robe to go with the turquoise earrings that were her trademark during the entire Symposium. See her above, with her award (and hear her below). This is someone who had designed, owned and operated spas. She knows more than anyone about the business and, not but, she is the first to say she leans something new every day. The industry, like life, is evolving the whole time. Today there is more emphasis on happiness and longevity.
Which brings us nicely to food, the topic of every Saturday post. Get the right food and happiness occurs. And with certain foods that feed brain and gut, longevity is helped. Since arriving in Israel Girlahead has, for instance, had enough smoked salmon to satisfy most lifetimes. That, and such breakfast tastes as perfect beetroot slices with crumbly cheese, surely will add a few minutes to existence. Plus bread, of course.
