When Nur Zayed first tasted the cooking of his mother-in-law, Khurshida Chowdhury, a wave of gratitude poured over him.

“She spoiled us so badly,” he said.

Now, Zayad is hoping Chowdhury’s cooking will spoil customers in Orinda at their new restaurant, Atithi. Zayad, also the general manager at Burma Love in Menlo Park, is bringing his 15 years of restaurant experience to help showcase his mother-in-law’s cooking.

Chowdhury comes to Atithi as a full-time grandmother and part-time cook, showing up to the restaurant for a few hours each morning to prepare dishes that will be served later that night. She previously cooked a little for a San Francisco restaurant. Otherwise, she’s been serving her delicious food at home and at family events.

“She grew up in a big family in Bangladesh with four sisters and four brothers,” Zayad said. “She was in charge of everything. When I met my wife, Shakura, we were trying to do a wedding ceremony and invited 200 people. I said, ‘Let’s have it catered.’ But (Chowdhury) said, ‘No, we’ll cook at home.’ She somehow managed and executed it.”

While Indian food can be focused around chicken as its primary protein, Atithi’s Bangladeshi food has a lot of beef and goat items. The dishes rely on imported Bangladeshi spices.

The most popular item so far has been the free bird rotisserie chicken roast ($17), featuring 14 spices, and a creamy goat curry. “It’s not thick like a chicken tikka masala, where you can feel the cream immediately,” he said. “This one looks white, but you don’t taste the cream.”

Taking over the space recently occupied by Anya’s Kitchen, an Indian restaurant that had a 4.5-star rating on Google, Atithi seats only 15 customers but has already partnered with major food service apps like GrubHub and DoorDash to deliver to nearby homes.

Details >> Atithi is open from 11:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily, with extended hours on weekends, at 70 Moraga Way in Orinda; atithiorinda.com.

Michelin-noted Rasa reopens in Burlingame

Rasa, the Burlingame restaurant that was one of California’s first Michelin-starred Indian restaurants but shuttered in May 2022, is making a comeback. The 2.0 version opened Oct. 15.

That first shuttering was more of a rebranding — Rasa became Saffron Burlingame, with the same menu as the original Saffron in San Carlos. However, as restaurateurs Reena Miglani and Ajay Walia began to work on their third restaurant concept, Amara, set to open in Belmont this winter, they said they concluded that separating the two Saffrons and bringing back Rasa would be less confusing to restaurant visitors.

From the time it opened in 2014, Rasa was focused on highlighting southern Indian cuisine, Walia says, while Saffron has largely highlighted dishes from northern India.

At Rasa 2.0, they’re planning to offer a duck confit biryani, for example. No, it’s not authentic, but everyone who’s tried it says it’s “off the hook,” he says. “We’re taking a modern approach with Indian cuisine. We’re going to challenge the norms.”

In addition, unlike some Indian restaurants, they’re not a curry house. Certainly, people can share dishes, he says, but the idea is that entrees are individual servings.

In this version of Rasa, Walia and Miglani say, they’re bringing more confidence to the space and a stronger emphasis on hospitality, and they’re focused on their pastry and cocktail programs.

Details >> Open for lunch and dinner daily at 209 Park Road, Burlingame; rasaindian.com.

Send restaurant news tips to Linda Zavoral at lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com, Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@bayareanewsgroup.com or John Metcalfe at jmetcalfe@bayareanewsgroup.com.