May 2019
When local author and RVTV cooking host Kumud Gokani moved to Ashland from India twenty years ago, little did she know that most of her family would follow. In 2007 her granddaughter Sachta decided to attend school at SOU, then her other granddaughter Sohana soon followed. Sachta met Andy Card at SOU while they were both in a Master’s program. After working for a couple of years in Belgium, Andy returned, and he and Sachta were married. Being entrepreneurially minded, they bought Oberon’s Restaurant & Bar on the Plaza in 2016, offering “Shakespearean fare, craft cocktails, creekside seating, rare whiskey and live music.”
Meanwhile back in India, Kumud’s daughter (and the mother of Sachta), Dimple Bakshi, and her husband Sumesh, decided they too would move to Ashland and join the rest of their family. Dimple and Sumesh were familiar with the restaurant industry as they owned two restaurants in Western India for over twenty years.
With three generations of foodies leading the way, the family decided in 2018 to open their own Indian-style restaurant, Masala Bistro & Bar, at 258 A Street.
“It’s a combination of northern Indian, southern Indian, general Indian street food, and Indian fusion,” Sachta said. “Pretty much a little bit of everything.”
Dimple agreed. “India is home to the most diverse number of spices in the world, which is why Indian food is so unique and delicious,” she said. “Our mission is to bring authentic Indian recipes and flavors to Ashland. We brainstormed ideas for the menu, and some of our family recipes date back over a century. We also like to show off by adding contemporary flair to some of our fusion dishes.”
And they like a little variety. “Instead of presenting a huge menu with a lot of items that stays the same for twenty years, we change it up every three or four months,” Sachta said. “We’re very seasonal and we work with the local farmers and try to use organic as much as possible. We make everything from scratch, including our curries, where we can go through 400 pounds of tomatoes in a month.”
The craft cocktails also use ingredients made from scratch. “The Indian-inspired cocktails use the same program as Oberon’s,” Andy said. “Our mission is to create unique cocktails that push the boundaries to excite the palate. We also offer local wines by the glass, beer on draft, and a concise and eclectic whiskey selection.”
The restaurant had been buying so much Indian food in bulk that just a few months ago they opened their own Indian food outlet, Kaarma Indian Groceries, at 1908-D Ashland Street. “People kept asking us where they could get organic spices and Indian groceries,” Dimple said. “We saw the need and decided to open our own store.”
The family is proud of the fact that all of their employees are Ashlanders. The kitchen staff is trained in Indian cuisine, and the servers and bartenders are all locals.
The phone number is 541-708-0943. They’re open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. You can also see them at masalaashland.com and on Facebook.
