20 years in the baking

Oven Fresh, that Shivaji Park oddity, turns 20 this year. The Mehta men tell us how they’ve stuck their ground

Oven Fresh was born out of simple Gujarati canniness. The Mehtas own the building where it stands, and in the early 90s, when the ground floor tenants moved away, Jagat Mehta wondered how he’d put the space to use. “I realised that when people craved a pastry, they had to go to a five-star (restaurant),” says the chartered accountant. That’s how the idea of opening a bakery-cum eatery that served puffs, cakes and breads was born. “And khaari,” pipes in Ronak, Jagat’s son, who enrolled in a bakery course at Dadar catering college, while his brother Deepak, was given charge of anchoring backend operations.

Born in 1993, Oven Fresh is an oddity in its location. Dadar is not a restaurant district. The few eateries that exist (Prakash Lunch Home, Gomantak) have a distinct Maharashtrian tilt. Fastfood MNCs like McDonald’s have stayed away. “People said I was going to drown my savings,” says Jagat. “When the oven arrived, they thought it was a safe and that I was opening a jewellery showroom, like a dutiful Gujarati. They wondered why the safe had a window!”

The oven became the star of the show. “Everything in the restaurant is made inhouse - the breads, the pizza base, the sandwich buns. I wanted patrons to see it emerge fresh from the oven, which is why the kitchen is at the centre, encased in glass walls,” he explains.

College kids started dropping in for a puff, and a curiously populated menu was pasted behind the cash counter in case you wanted to order while you waited for a table. Which you very often did. There was Chinese, Italian, Mexican and fast food, apart from the danishes and pastries.

But in the last three years, the restaurant has been inching towards sophistication. Gone are the syrupy soda floats. The menu has been chiselled to select flavour pairings within Continental and Mediterranean cuisine. The stir fries and house special nachos remain, but a tortellini with mascarpone in paprika orange butter sauce has moved next door. “We’ve moved away from artificial, sugary flavouring,” says Ronak, “and now source single origin chocolates, vegetables and other ingredients directly from their native countries. Everything is light on the palate.” They use an extra-dry French butter that doesn’t retain moisture, so the croissants are crisp.

The shift is subtle, and not advertised. The service (crockery and cutlery) is more flamboyant and the portions, a wee bit smaller. But Ronak doesn’t take it upon himself to educate his guests. “Our fondue always used gruyere cheese. People would take two bites and leave it. But when they ordered the same thing elsewhere, they realised that they were eating a plain cheddar cheese sauce, and recognised the difference,” he says proudly.

And yet, the price of a dish hardly touches Rs 400. “It’s because we don’t pay rent,” offers Jagat. “And we don’t offer frills - no valet parking, credit cards or home delivery. It sounds proud when we refuse, but we want to keep it simple.”

And they have no branches. “There are Parisian patisseries that have stayed put in the same place for 300 years,” Ronak says by way of comparison. “We’re only 20 years old. In the next few years, several international celebrity chefs are going to open restaurants in Mumbai. We have to be able to continue business in the face of this competition.”

The other adamant decision has been to turn and remain vegetarian. Old timers get nostalgic about the chicken burger, which they served till 2005. “We’re Jains, and when my late wife was very ill, she got sentimental. It was her wish that we stop serving non-vegetarian food, and we did over night,” says Jagat.

Deepak is the official taster, as are regular patrons. “We make small samples and ask guests whether they’d like to try them,” says Ronak. Deepak likes everything on the menu, “because everything passes through me, literally.” Jagat could be speaking for his locality when he says, “I grew up in Shivaji Park, so if you gave me a choice between a spicy misal and pasta, I’d choose the first.”

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