Juhu Beach Club offers fine fare served with panache and Indian flair

Bay area Indian restaurant offers ambiance, art, films, family history, great fresh food

Artful touches abound in Juhu Beach Club in Oakland, named after a beautiful beach in the owner's ancestors' land, India.

In just months, Juhu has become known for its authentic, fresh India inspired menu in delightful surroundings. 

  

Honoring ancestors is part of the charm at Juhu Beach Club.

Here, owner Preeti Mistry's mother, watches over in a photo.

Sari-clad aunties keep an eye on the place in vintage photos.

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

PREETI MISTRY has a name as mysterious and poetic as her restaurant, Juhu Beach Club in Oakland, California.

Named after one of India's most famous, exotic and beautiful beaches, Juhu Beach Club is in Oakland, not Mumbai.

Its nearest large body of water is San Francisco Bay, not the Arabian Sea.

But it is the real deal for those of us who have acquired a taste for fine, fresh Indian fare.

Mistry and her partner, Ann Madeau, have

Preety Mistry and Ann Madeau, married partners, are proud

of the Juhu Beach Club's exposure and reputation, garnered

in less than two years since the Bay Area restaurant debuted.

It has a reputation for excellence and changing specials.

transformed an ordinary neighborhood building into an artful, appealing restaurant with some of the best Indian fare the Bay Area has to offer.

Their following is growing since opening less than a year ago. It's no wonder. Excellence is the sacred byword for the energetic Mistry, 37.

MISTRY IS no stranger to the food business, nor to the ambition and hard work necessary to make a restaurant successful.

Born in London to an Indian mother and father from Uganda (dad's a doctor; mum's a chemist), Mistry grew up in a driven, creative and demanding household.  She acquired a taste for Indian movies and fine food and the beach of her mother's homeland lingered in her mind. Perhaps her London birth influenced her path toward international culinary art.  London is one of the world's great food-loving cities, and it lured Mistry back to its famed chef school, Le Cordon Bleu. She and Ann moved back to a favorite city, San Francisco, in 2004, and started a catering company called Saffron Hill.

SINCE TODDLER days, Mistry remembers a fondness for the spicy, fragrant food of her ancestors -- flavorful curries, sweet and tangy sauces and chutneys, slow braised meats and chicken and the distinctive blend of spices and herbs that gives Indian food its appeal.

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Turmeric, saffron, tamarind and pepper, cilantro, cumin and ginger greet the nostrils as one enters Juhu Beach Club. Succulent chicken, beef and shrimp dishes are offered and there's plenty for the vegetarian. The papadums and flavorful pickled cabbage are divine. Everything is fresh as a spring morning, from Preeti's pretty fare to paisley and pink walls.

PLANTS, movie posters and vintage family photos welcome the guest. A beverage is offered immediately -- all in the time honored tradition of Indian hospitality. The place is also immaculate, as if dusted by fairies.  Regular showings of Indian movies enhance the "Bollywood" cache.

Guests peruse the menu, choosing a coconut curry or Bombay sandwich while sipping a mango mimosa, masala chai or old-fashioned shandy.  A small, sophisticated and reasonably priced wine and beer list plus daily changing cocktails provide something for every taste.

RAISED IN Orlando, Toledo and Pittsburg, with family trips to Mumbai, Preeti describes herself as a "in certain ways, a typical American kid with professional parents, travel and exposure."  Her loving but strict parents made no secret of their high standards for their daughter, who had to sort out her sexuality with traditional upbringing and expectations.

Mistry met her banker partner and international traveler Ann Madeau in Ohio.  Following Madeau's career, they moved to London and Mistry began serious study as a chef.

THEY MARRIED and honeymooned on an alluringly remote Mexican island where they sought out and found delicious food. The Bay Area with its openness and diversity drew them back to that part of the world.

Christene "Cookie" Meyers, left, meets and interviews Juhu Beach Club

owner Pretti Mistry during a recent Bay Area visit. 

The two complement one another, completing thoughts and anticipating one another's needs.

They collaborated as they organized the restaurant, with Ann designing the interior and Preeti developing the menu.

 MISTRY'S broad, international cheffing experience also includes a stint at San Francisco's respected de Young museum store and cafe.

The menu was crafted by locally based Bon Appetit Management Company, and, like Juhu Beach Club, features tasty seasonal dishes created with local ingredients from small family farms and producers.

With her movie-poster smile, Preeti says, "Eating well in a relaxing, pleasant environment -- and enjoying all aspects of it -- are part of the good life."

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