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In 2022, Ajay Walia replaced his award-winning Burlingame restaurant Rasa with his more casual concept Saffron to create an operative cohesiveness between that restaurant, which features South Indian flavors, and Saffron San Carlos, which spotlights foods from North India. On Oct. 15, Saffron reverted to Rasa, reintroducing itself among a growing list of elevated Indian restaurants on the Peninsula.
Conceptually, Rasa 2.0 was in the works for some time, partly because he and his team felt that the essence of the original remained, even though they closed that chapter in 2022 and reopened as Saffron later that year. Business was good, but there was always that nagging feeling from Walia and the staff that they needed to revisit the elevated dishes that made Rasa a Michelin-star restaurant from 2016-2022.
“Ajay is the visionary for all of our restaurants, and he has and continues to lead the culinary teams,” co-owner Reena Miglani said of her husband and business partner. “He is the one that is changing the menus, updating or swapping out dishes and having the chefs execute. If a newly imagined dish doesn’t taste how he envisions it, he will jump into the kitchen and work with them.”
Retired in 2022 from a tenured leadership role at Oracle, Miglani now works with Walia full time. She has been instrumental in updating the design of Saffron San Carlos and has been a true partner in the couple’s Belmont restaurant, Amara, which is set to open this winter.
Time in the restaurant business is a gift, and with that comes reflection.
“The time between closing the original Rasa and opening the new Rasa, we’ve learned so much,” Walia said. “We learned that it’s OK to deviate from before. What we are trying to do this time is not copy and paste what we did.”
Hospitality has always been at the forefront for the couple, whether in their home, their restaurants or on vacation. They acknowledged that as they’ve gotten older and become empty nesters, they are traveling and dining out more, and that exposure helped shape the type of experience they want to create for their customers at Rasa.
“Honestly, the biggest change from Rasa 1.0 to 2.0 will be thoughtful hospitality,” Walia said.
Travel not only influences how a restauranteur views service, but also how design plays a role in the atmosphere and the food. According to Miglani, the restaurant’s shift to more color and vibrancy mirrors the updated menu.
“Just as the dishes have layers of flavor, so will the interior design,” Miglani said. “We’ve done some updates to make the space feel richer and warmer and plan on adding more art, such as portraits of southern Indian kings.”
As the co-founder of a jewelry line, First New York, Miglani hopes to install some shadow boxes filled with estate jewelry from India that represents the royal side of her home country.
The dishes at Rasa, executed by chef de cuisine Vivek Tamhane, pay homage to southern India and the coastal waters that border the subcontinent, with seafood like poached lobster tail and mussels appearing regularly.
“There are a few menu items that were popular at Rasa that will never go away, but apart from those, the menu leans more heavily into the spices and flavors of southern India,” Walia said.
Rasa sliders, a vegetarian bite of spiced potato fritters with tangy tamarind and cilantro chutney on soft pav bread, are updated from Bombay sliders, a signature dish served at the original Rasa.
Though there will be paratha on the menu, you won’t find naan. “Tandoori breads like naan are a very North Indian food, and the original Rasa didn’t serve it,” said Miglani. Walia agreed and added, “We don’t have a tandoori oven in the kitchen.”
Instead, delectable vehicles for scooping come in the form of dosas, made from rice flour and black gram flour. The White Elephant butter paper dosa, a 2-foot-long dosa with house-churned butter, “gunpowder” dust (a spice blend) and spiced potato masala hash, is one of the new menu’s signature dishes.
The team is also exploring blending European and southern Asian dishes like the duck confit biryani, featuring slow-cooked duck, basmati rice, aromatic spices and caramelized onions. Ultimately, Walia’s vision has always been about utilizing the flavors of India to highlight seasonal ingredients. Rasa’s new rack of lamb with tamarind-glazed Brussels sprouts and pan-sauteed mushrooms is a testament to his love for lamb and local produce.
“Just because we are Indian, we shouldn’t be typecast into cooking Indian food,” Walia said. “Amara is a testament to that, and we can’t wait to show our interpretation of Mediterranean cuisine.”
The menu at Rasa is “structured” and “refined,” Walia said, and each entree includes a protein, starch and vegetable. The beverage menu now features half bottles of wine and an interesting zero-proof cocktail list.
“We’re excited to blend familiar flavors in non-Indian formats,” Walia said. “Ultimately, we’re presenting great food that is our version of Indian.”
Rasa, 209 Park Road, Burlingame; 650-910-6351, Instagram: @rasa_indian. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m.
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