Gopal Ramanujam is turning one burnt restaurant into two new ones. It brings to mind Nietzsche’s admittedly overused aphorism, “what doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.”

On January 20, the owner of Madras Masala was expecting a 6 a.m. food delivery from Sysco. When he arrived, crews were already confronting a fire that would completely destroy the Maynard St. building housing his restaurant and an adjoining vape shop.

No one was injured in the blaze, which is believed to have started overnight in the kitchen’s ventilation system. Because cooking was all Ramanujam knew, he was determined to restart the twenty-year-old restaurant—which he’d acquired from a friend in 2014—as soon as possible.

He tried to stay downtown but found nothing with a big enough kitchen for Madras Masala’s extensive menu of South Indian and Indo-Chinese specialties. Instead, less than ten months later, he reopened on Packard a few doors down from YORK, in the building long held by the Chinese restaurant Chia Shiang, whose original ownership stepped away about three years ago and which ultimately closed over the summer.

(Coincidentally, at Packard and Platt, another stalwart, Panda Korean & Chinese Food, also closed this summer due to retirement.)

With new hardwood-like floor tile and fresh mint and mango paint on the walls, the reborn Madras Masala seems brighter than its predecessor, and it’s also more casual. It’s no longer full-service, and the lunch buffet will not return, Ramanujam says, in concession to higher food and labor costs.

The chef wants to keep the focus on the food and is glad that four of his key kitchen employees have rejoined him after the forced hiatus. The menu is essentially the same, with butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, and lamb biryani remaining popular, along with a range of vindaloos, dosas, and other dishes for vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

Ramanujam is already planning a second location at 1143 Broadway St. in the revitalizing Lower Town business district. His wife, Uma Arokiasamy, will play a big role there, although the menu will be smaller. He hopes it will be ready by March.

That vacancy was created by the November departure of India Cafe, whose owner/chef, Tasawar Shah, tells the Observer that rising rents helped prompt his move to a smaller spot at 1797 Washtenaw Ave. in Ypsilanti.

Madras Masala, 2016 Packard St. (734) 222–9006. Mon.–Sat. 11:30 a.m.–2:30 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.–9:30 p.m., Sun. 11:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. & 4:30 p.m.–9 p.m. madrasmasala.com