BRAND PARTY: At The Tea Table, it?s all whiteness and warmth. Diagonally opposite stands the Flurys everybody remembers, but dolled up pretty. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A war of patties and pastries, across the road. A war of two worlds, old and new. It?s Flurys vs Flurys on Park Street and everyone?s invited, Gen-ex and GenX.

The bite-and-beverage stop at 57A, Park Street, housing the ?makeshift Flurys? for three-and-a-half months last year, when the ?only tea room in the country? was undergoing a makeover at 18, Park Street, is here to stay, but as T3 ? The Tea Table.

Step into the Park Mansion address and you?re greeted by the look and feel of the old Flurys ? the faces, the furniture and the fare are all familiar, as is the languid pace and the popular patty. ?Just bite into the chicken patties at the two places and you?ll know immediately which the real Flurys is,? claims T3 manager Melvyn Price.

So, is the new address the old Flurys and the old address the new Flurys? The management acknowledges Flurys and T3 as members of the Apeejay family, but is quick to distance T3 from the Flurys diagonally opposite.

?The Tea Table has nothing to do with Flurys and is under the Kalimpong Bakeries chain,? clarifies Anirban Simlai, director food and beverages, The Park Hotel. ?There was a problem with branding, since it housed the makeshift Flurys. But the two are completely different. Even the factories are separate.?

Separate the two sure are ? in d?cor and delicacies, service and style. The brand new Flurys, launched in Christmas week 2004 after a Rs 3-crore facelift, is pink and pretty as a picture. T3 is all whiteness and warmth.

At the plush old address, electric tea machines have taken over from kettles, fresh cream recipes have replaced the butter cream varieties, luxury cakes have overshadowed the plain bakes.

If the Flurys factory is tucked away behind The Park and run by a group of executive chefs, headed by Shaun Kenworthy, the T3 factory in Tottee Lane is a much smaller affair, supervised by Price himself.

?I have been with Flurys for the past two decades and never expected that we would not be allowed to return to our shop once it was renovated,? observes Price, gazing through the clear glass windows of T3 at the fa?ade of the tearoom that has caught the eye of the young and fanciful.

Despite the swank appearance and the lavish spread of the refurbished and rollicking Flurys, what continues to bring a loyal line into T3?

Perhaps it is the lost charm of the eight-decade-old confectionery that is forcing a steady stream of Flurys fans to cross the road and walk in ? for old favourites like Chicken Breast Loaf and Fish Cocktail Sausages On Toast, for the leisurely morning cup of tea with a newspaper in hand, for the trip down memory lane on the brown sofa seats and orange table tops.

?Things will get better once we improve the overall infrastructure a bit,? promises Steven Itoler, another old Flurys employee, who sits at the till in T3. ?We will instal two air-conditioners by the end of this month and the menu will soon be widened.?

Then, more old Flurys? regulars will come here, feels Price. ?This place is all about memories. Calcutta doesn?t want something new. It wants a piece of history to cling to.?

The buzz about Flurys and the waiting list for a berth belie this claim about Calcutta. ?The first two months at Flurys have been absolutely maddening,? says Kenworthy, with a smile of success.

The tearoom tussle remains tied, depending on which side of the glass windows you are.