The Rajarhat day-dine destination will focus on world cuisine

Tuck into a seafood salad or Swiss fondue, enjoy a stand-up comedy show, angle for trout or do an instant recording of your favourite songs, rendered in your own voice.

This Puja, you should be able do all this at one stop — a destination dining and entertainment park in New Town, Rajarhat.

To come up on a 1.5-acre plot close to The Axis mall, the Rs 15-crore project breaking through the gloom of downturn is being planned on the lines of out-of-town destination retail rendezvous in the UK and the US.

“We are doing the day destination in a 50:50 joint venture with Apex F&B and Entertainment of the UK,” Anjan Chatterjee, the chairman and managing director of Speciality Restaurants Pvt Ltd, owners of the Mainland China, Sigree and Oh Calcutta! brands, told Metro.

The first phase, featuring two theme restaurants of 200 covers each, a large children’s play area, a world food theatre and parking for 250 cars, will be ready by September. The second phase construction will span another six months.

The global food theatre will feature a “crack team of chefs” juggling and tossing ingredients like bar tenders, with carnival elements thrown in to celebrate a variety of cuisine.

In Phase II, the extended food-and-entertainment park will add a 24x7 coffee shop, a seafood restaurant and an interactive theatre restaurant to its menu.

“The idea is to encourage people to have a great time and indulge their passions. The entire entertainment package is anchored on food, and we will have a clutch of activity centres, like fishing, a studio where you can record your own voice on an instant CD or tape, or paint your favourite landscape…. You can just be yourself,” said Chatterjee.

The UK partner, which is bringing in the technical expertise, the architecture and design, will be creating a number of chill-out zones, both indoor and outdoor, across the low-rise development that draws inspiration from the Liberty malls in the UK, among others.

“When everybody is talking pessimism, we chose to take the plunge, because we believe in creating destinations and being ready to catch the crest once the market mood improves,” said Chatterjee, whose Speciality group is now running 25 Mainland China outlets across the country.

The company is also preparing to launch its outdoor catering service, which would enable Calcuttans to serve up Mainland China or Oh! Calcutta cuisine at private parties.

“We have catered at several events, including the Prime Minister’s farewell dinner for Somnath Chatterjee. Now, we will take our signature dishes to Calcutta homes,” says the restaurateur.