Training for Cafe Ekante

Ever since its opening on 15 May last year, business in Cafe Ekante and Ekante cottages on the Island in the lake of Eco Park is growing .  Initially there was pure Bangla food at Cafe Ekante restaurant: now there is fusion food with mughlai cuisine. From one outlet, it has expanded to Eco Park Jetty counter, outdoor lawn of Cafe Ekante, counter at Najrul Tirtha movie hall, counter at Swapna Bhor Seniors' Park and, recently, floating restaurant for fine dining on the eco park lake. A static AC house-boat outlet and  the catering of Business Club is also being planned.

To ensure excellence in services, I thought that there is a need to impart training to the managers and staff. I contacted the Principal of Institute of Hotel Management at Taratola who agreed, at my request, to conduct a training at our site at glass hall. Yesterday afternoon, three trainers from IHM came and began sessions on production, housekeeping and front office managemnet. I was there in the inaugural session. A photo:

Opening of 6 day training to Cafe Ekante staff/ managers by IHM

* * *
We are already having reservation queries for Biswa Bangla Convention Centre. Yesterday, the National Secretary of Cardiology Society of India came for a discussion and formally put in an application for reserving all facilities, including rooms in the annexe building, on 6-11 Dec 2017. I told them that in the third week of Dec 2017, we already have a booking while there is a confirmed booking for January 2017 too. Great to see the interest, and to see that Kolkata was waiting for a venue suitable for such international events.

The complex task of raising 22 ton steel structures (truss) to a height of 18 story for laying the roof  trusses began yesterday morning. I was present to see the remarkable engineering feat that even called for computerised simulation before deploying the massive fly jib crane. (I looked at the web to find out what a jib crane is ..."a crane having an arm guyed at a fixed angle to the head of a rotating mast."...).
Pictures:

Truss appearing at skyline reminded me of frames in
the film Godzilla !

* * *
Clippings:

Sanmarg dt 1 Feb 2016

Aajkal dt 1 Feb 2016