If it was KFC and Subway in 2005, it?s the Big Mac, no less, in 2006. In a city where the gourmetscape gets more global by the month, the New Year comes with the promise of a plethora of new eating out chains opening up a whole new world for the Calcutta foodie.

Metro fast forwards to check out the platter promise of 2006.

• A team from McDonald?s came to Calcutta in the third weekend of December for a recce and what they saw ?impressed them very much?. The result: a decision to drop anchor in Calcutta before the end of 2006 and plans for anything between 12 and 15 outlets. Up there on the Big Mac agenda is a flagship store on Park Street, smaller outlets in malls and drive-throughs on thoroughfares.

• Global Franchise Architects (GFA) will be launching two of its brands ? Pizza Corner and Coffee World ? in Calcutta by July 2006. The Swiss company with a largely southern focus first came calling in the country with Chennai?s Pizza Corner in 1996. Since then, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad have been its bastions, with a foray into Delhi and Mumbai.

Now, Calcutta is big on its radar. ?We have been tracking the development and the success of various brands in Calcutta. Fast food is flying fast off the racks here. If anything has to happen, it has to happen now or else we will miss out,? says Anoop Sequeira, CEO, GFA (India). ?Once our supply chain is in place, the number of outlets in Calcutta will go up,? promises Sequeira.

• lKFC, which opened in the summer of 2005 and is still drawing queues at its maiden outlet in City Centre, is set to take wings this year. ?We are looking at a large second outlet in south Calcutta in the next six months and at least one more by end-2006. Calcutta can eventually gobble up 20 to 30 KFC outlets, including Express counters housed in food courts,? feels Sharanita Keswani, director-KFC marketing, Yum! Restaurants International.

• Subway, the sandwich chain that was a runaway success last year, is eyeing ?at least two outlets? in the first half of 2006. ?After the success of the first outlet we wanted to open the second outlet really fast but couldn?t. With all formalities done, the stores should be opened soon,? says Rishi Bajoria, the Calcutta franchisee.

• Mainland China, the city?s most popular Mandarin haunt, will roll out Haka, a chain of quick-service restaurants to be housed in retail malls. The fast-food format offering quick combos will kick off at City Centre in January itself, with six more outlets planned over the next six months. Lake Mall, South City, Silver Spring, Mani Square and a new mall in Howrah are the likely addresses for the subsequent Hakas.

• Speciality Restaurants Pvt Ltd, the company that owns the Mainland China brand, will also start the Great Indian Spice Trail, inside Silver Arcade on the Bypass. The 140-covers eatery promises to bring together a mix of signature dishes, some rare or extinct, from ?undivided India?.

• Caught & Bowled restaurant and lounge in City Centre with Sourav Ganguly as mentor will open as soon as the storm over his place in the team blows over. With both menu and decor drawing heavily from cricketing tales and Maharaja?s exploits, the 5,000-sq-ft food stop, by SD Constructions, will call its Chicken Tangri Kebab ?LBW? and its Chicken Kalmi Kebab, ?Leg Glance?!

• At 209, AJC Bose Road, Praveen Agarwal?s 5,500 sq ft restaurant called Cubes is inspired by casino culture.

Coming up in the second week of January, this has a multi-cuisine restaurant on one level and an exclusive bar on another. The decor of the place is indeed quite ?casino-like?. Says interior designer Vivek Rathore: ?The feel is very flashy and gaudy ? perfect to go with the dim lights.?

• A coffee lounge by Naveen Pai (of Coffee Pai fame) promises to offer ?the first lounge experience outside five-star hotels.?

Characterised by brick walls and segregated zones for family crowd and teens, the look of this lounge is contemporary and has a distinct English feel. ?Other than serving hookah and an elaborate a la carte menu, we will also have a live dessert counter,? explains Naveen, about the lounge coming up at H-18, New Alipore.

• After extensive research and studies, the spa restaurant at ITC Sonar Bangla Sheraton and Towers is all set to open its doors this year. Exclusively for spa members and hotel residents, it will be open for select guests eventually. ?Healthy eating need not be bland and that?s what this eatery is going to prove,? says Ranvir Bhandari, general manager of the hotel. This 1,000 sq ft space is going to boast customised food orders as well as a host of cookery demonstrations.