Utopian Leisure, the company headed by former Ultimate Leisure boss Bob Senior, has opened its first Fat Buddha takeaway in Darlington.
The company opened its first Fat Buddha restaurant in Durham last year. Now it has opened a Little Fat Buddha takeaway in Darlington — and plans to open another in
Sunderland later this year.
Senior said: "With all the talk of recession and doom and gloom, we were slightly nervous.
"But the results for the first week were very good and it shows we have got a good brand and we have chosen the right location."
Senior set up Utopian three years ago, along with Darlington-based Tim Wynn, the company's property director.
Meanwhile, Senior has backed a move to create a Business Improvement District (Bid) in Newcastle.
He said: "Newcastle city centre is one of the safest in the country and we need to remind people of this.
"The Bid will do exactly that as well as providing additional reassurance to the wider family and early evening crowd we really want to attract."