SALINITY NOW

Allow me to address the article published in the April issue of Portland Monthly concerning Salt Grotto spa (A Brine Time). Strict judgments such as those published in the article should be based at least on the elementary knowledge of a given topic. Everyone is entitled to his or her opinion; however, this one missed the target.

Salt Grotto offers salt therapy that is based on experience from natural salt mines and, as has been stated, it is widely used in Europe as supportive treatment in a spectrum of diseases. The experience and the support of this concept are overwhelming; however, it is too wide a topic to address here. If the author had expected some sort of beach party with piña coladas, it further supports the impression of a lack of understanding of Salt Grotto’s purpose. “Three days at the beach” does not refer to sunbathing, beach volleyball, and fancy cocktails. It refers to the healing properties of the negatively ionized air at the ocean or in the mountains. The air in the mountains or on the ocean shore contains 100 to 200 times more negative ions than the air in a regular city building. At Salt Grotto, this amount is even 10,000 times higher.

Dead Sea salt, which covers the floor of Salt Grotto, offers additional benefits due to its richness of minerals. It is well known that people suffering from skin diseases travel to the Dead Sea to improve their condition. The main purpose of Salt Grotto is to help people with different health concerns, from breathing problems because of allergies to skin problems and others. This enormous health benefit has been omitted in your article. It’s hard to say if this is due to the author’s lack of information or on purpose.

The piece published in your magazine does not reflect the purpose of our facility and provides the readers of Portland Monthly with misleading and biased information. If it turns away even one person who might benefit from Salt Grotto’s microclimate, the harm is done.

—KARLA KOMERSOVA, MD
OWNER/MANAGER, SALT GROTTO

Unfortunately, we were unable to substantiate all of the scientific claims in this letter with outside sources. —The Editors

COFFEE TALK

For our May 2010 Portland Plated story, Coffee Confidential, we invited five coffee connoisseurs to blind-test and rank five of the Northwest’s most popular roasts. Weigh in on the results.

I wish Peet’s [Coffee & Tea] would have been invited for a twist. I think these green(light) roasters are all pouring something boring—Courier and Stumptown specifically.
—HMMM

I feel like this is the beginning to Rocky III, where Sylvester Stallone is fighting mediocre boxers in order to just stay on top. Why not put Stumptown up against some of the hungry, newer local roasters, like Courier, Spella, Sterling, Ristretto, et al? Was it to make sure Stumptown won, or just to keep from having to say something negative about a truly local product?
—EXTRAMSG

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CORRECTION

On page 88 of our May 2010 issue, the photo of Alaskan black cod at Genoa should have been credited to Daniel Cronin. Portland Monthly regrets the error.