(Top) Sourav?s ? The Food Pavilion getting the final touches before its Durga puja debut on Park Street. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya (Above) The entrance to Tendulkar?s

Days before taking on the Aussies, the Team India skipper took guard on a different pitch on Monday, launching Calcutta?s ?first four-storeyed multiplex restaurant?, Sourav?s ? The Food Pavilion.

Steered by some of Sourav Ganguly?s closest off-field partners, through Abhishek Entertainment & Foods Pvt Ltd, the multiple-element, fine-dining destination on Park Street will open its doors to gourmands on Shasthi, October 19.

The glittering guest list for the Puja unveiling is expected to have a few good men from the skipper?s squad (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan), along with screen idols Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai.

The four-in-one combo ? One Day, Over Boundary, Maharaj and Prince of Cal ? designed by Mumbai-based architect Kapil Bhalla depicts ?four extremely important aspects? of the captain?s life ? friendship, growing pangs, family, stardom and fame.

?It?s a different line for me to get into, since all these years I have been involved in cricket only. But I sincerely hope we can successfully create a destination where one can spend quality time with the family,? Sourav said.

The Food Pavilion has plans for a mixed bag of events related to the game, from cricket quizzes to launch of books and CDs on the game to hosting all touring international teams. ?Sourav?s name can provide only the initial impetus, but we have to constantly upgrade and reinvent in food and services to stay sustainable,? said general manager Saikat Sarkar.

As Sourav strides out to the food court ? where Sachin?s culinary ambitions have already got off the mark ? Metro pits the on-pitch partners against one another:

Name: Sourav?s ? The Food Pavilion

Name: Tendulkar?s Gourmet Restaurant

Address: 20G, Park Street (opposite Peter Cat)

Address: Narang House, Ist floor, 34, Chhatrapati Shivaji Marg, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai

Opening on: October 19, 2004

Opened on: October 15, 2002

Managed by: Sourav and his friends Manoj Jhajharia, Ajay Jindal, Sanjay Das, Kanishka Mazumdar and R.N. Jhajharia, through Abhishek Entertainment & Foods Pvt Ltd.

Managed by: Mars Group of Restaurants, owned by Sanjay Narang, Sachin?s partner in this venture

Area: 15,000 sq ft, with master kitchen and ground-floor lobby

Area: 4,000 sq ft, including kitchen area

Seating: 360, over four floors

Seating: 103 seats in the restaurant; another 60 in the Score Sports Bar, just outside

Timings: One Day (coffee shop) 6 am to midnight. Over Boundary (multi-cuisine) and Maharaj (Indian) noon to 3 pm and 7 pm to 11 pm. Prince of Cal (lounge bar) noon to midnight

Timings: noon to 3 pm, 7.30 pm to midnight

D?cor: Subtle cricket metaphors with a unifying Team India thread and diverse architectural elements to portray four aspects of Sourav?s life. A souvenir shop to stock his signature items

D?cor: A museum to Sachin. There are World Cup 2003 memorabilia, Don Bradman?s bat presented to Sachin, an installation of balls signed by cricketing greats who visit the restaurant. Tees, posters. The colour blue (Sachin?s favourite colour) is highlighted

Menu: From fast food to multi-cuisine to Indian vegetarian to Anglo-Indian to South Indian, on a specially-designed menu card created on the lines of a cricket album

Menu: Fine-dining, multi-cuisine restaurant, offering Indian, Oriental, Continental cuisine

Food faves: Signature dishes to be finalised after an initial trial and feedback, but chief chef Xavier Ajit Gomes has stuck to some skipper?s faves while creating the platters

Food faves: Specialises in seafood and all that Sachin loves. Tiger prawns. Chicken in Periperi. And Fried Bombay Duck ? the way Sachin?s mother made it

Souravspeak: From calling it The Food Pavilion to the names of individual levels, the process of selecting each name has been as delicate as selecting the cricket team before the most crucial match. It is a long-cherished dream and we have not left any stone unturned

Sachinspeak: (Sachin promises food he loves, but it?s Narang who does the talking.) Everything in the restaurant was chosen by him ? the colour, the d?cor, the food, even the designs on the aprons of the stewards was approved by him ? says the partner.

Final word: At a time when the centre of gravity of fine-dining was gradually shifting south of Park Street, the multiplex restaurant is a bold and exciting step, quite like the skipper?s step-out bowler?s back drive that more often than not clears the ropes. However, once the field restrictions are relaxed, it would be down to the basics of goods and services to keep the wok at Sourav?s simmering.

Final word: OK on curiosity value, but Tendulkar?s isn?t exactly the place foodies troop into. There are several better options for fine-dining, with more value for money in Colaba itself. Reported to be a loss-making venture, though the restaurant denies this, saying: ?There are ups and downs.?