Sourav's eatery bags US order

While he faces some tough times on the cricket field, India captain Sourav Ganguly appears to be doing well off it with a Kolkata-based restaurant he backs, bagging a catering order from the US military.

Sourav's: The Food Pavilion, a multi-cuisine restaurant, has been chosen to supply meals to around 250 US troops participating in a joint exercise with Indian military personnel at an airbase about 100 km from Kolkata.

The drill, starting on October 24, will run for a month during which Ganguly's restaurant will feed the foreigners a generous mix of India and continental fares.

The contract was awarded to Sourav's after representatives from the US Marines' health department inspected the kitchen facility at the outlet and measured every bit of its infrastructure against the stringent health and hygiene parameters of the American military.

Among the strict measures to be followed is the vaccination of the restaurant's kitchen staff against diseases like Hepatitis A and B. They also held a workshop with the chefs.

The instructions are clear -- cater food rich in proteins and fibre, said a source at Sourav's.

Food would be served from a makeshift kitchen at the Kalaikunda airbase where some 50 people will work on shifts.

Provisions will be transported in refrigerated vans. Meat will come from Australia and diary products from New Zealand.

The breakfast is going to be mostly English with eggs, bacon, cereals and juices. Lunch is mostly an Indian affair and dinner continental.

Restaurant authorities feel the contract is important because it proved that Sourav's followed hygiene standards acceptable internationally.

Though it's widely believed that Ganguly has financial interest in Sourav's, the skipper claims the involvement doesn't go beyond lending his celebrity name.