Sunday Dinner with Preeti Mistry

We're excited to feature the cuisine and talents of Preeti Mistry, a second-generation Indian born in London and raised across the US, now based in Oakland. She is the Executive Chef of Navi Kitchen in Oakland, founder of Juhu Beach Club and co-author (with Sarah Henry) of The Juhu Beach Club Cookbook. The twice James Beard nominated chef has been featured on CNN's Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain and she was a contestant on Top Chef Season 6. She received her Grande Diplome from Le Cordon Bleu Culinary Academy in London in 2002.

We hope you'll join us for a very special evening featuring the Mistry Sunday Dinner menu, one that offers a glimpse into the culinary and Indian-East African heritage of this talented chef. A portion of the proceeds from this event will go UndocuFund.
Signed copies of The Juhu Beach Club cookbook ($30 each) will be available for purchase at the dinner. To facilitate the sales and payment process, and to ensure that we have enough copies on hand, please indicate your interest in advance by selecting the "Cookbook" ticket during registration.

THE STORY:

Preeti's family was part of the Indian diaspora that settled in Uganda in the 1940s. Her mother, hailing from Gujarat, moved to Uganda upon marriage and quickly learnt to cook all the foods that her dad enjoyed eating. The family were forced to flee when Idi Amin came to power and expelled the Indian population in 1972. They settled in Wembley, in the northwestern part of London, where Preeti was born.

As a child, the family's staple menu of home-cooked Gujarati cooking was boring for this curious eater who saw cooking as a chore and did not want to be a part of it. She was enamored instead with dining out, and with the whole restaurant experience: the decor, service, atmosphere and menu. It was new and mysterious compared to her mother's vegetarian Indian dishes which she now loves even though she found it boring at the time.

"Sunday nights were special. Mom made a delicious dish called ravaiya, with little baby eggplants and potatoes roasted in a blend of cumin, coriander and raw peanuts. There are all these different tastes and textures going on. Mom split the eggplants, stuffed them with the masala, and roasted them in the oven; the smell used to waft through the whole house. She’d finish the dish by adding a little water to pick up all the spices that had caramelized on the bottom of the pan (what’s known as deglazing the pan in French cuisine) to make a thick sauce that coated the vegetables. My sisters and I swore it tasted like chicken. Instead of calling it ravaiya we called it chicken-stuffed potatoes. It’s like the ultimate homey, comfort food served up on a Sunday night. We’d have it with masala chass, a savory lassi that’s popular at street food stands and in five-star restaurants. It’s made with yogurt and salt and comes with a tempering on top; you sizzle oil with garlic, cumin seeds or curry leaves, drizzle it really fast on the drink, and then mix it in. It’s a popular cooling drink that pairs well with hot dishes. And we’d have kitcheri, a thick porridge of gently spiced rice and split mung beans. It’s belly-warming food that sustains you for the week ahead."

MISTRY SUNDAY DINNER MENU:

Pappadums & Pickles
Roasted lentil pappad with housemade pickles and chutneys

Masala Chass
Chilled Straus yogurt, fresh curry leaves, ginger, toasted cumin

Kitcheri
Slow-cooked split mung bean and basmati rice porridge

Ravaiya
Indian baby eggplant and potatoes, coriander-cumin and ground peanut sauce

Mistry Chicken Curry
Fresh fenugreek slow braised chicken curry with spring greens and sweet peppers
Rice and Flatbreads
Golden basmati rice and house-made flatbreads

Beer and wine will be available for purchase from the Navi Kitchen bar.

FAQs

Is my ticket transferable?

Yes. If you are unable to attend an event you are welcome to pass this along to a friend who can take your place. Please send a note to hello@tapestrysuppers.org informing us of this change.

What's the refund policy?

For cancellations up to a week (7 days) prior to event date: 100% refund minus $3 cancellation fee.

For cancellations up to 3 days prior to event date: 50% refund minus cancellation fee.

No refunds for cancellations made less than 3 days prior to the event.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?

Send an email to: hello@tapestrysuppers.org.