The owner of an Oriental-themed fast food chain hopes his meeting with a Dundee rival will serve up a solution to their name dispute.
Sam Elia, managing partner of Chopstix Restaurants, hopes to make sweet the sour feelings felt by Steve Chow of Chopstix restaurant on St Andrews Street.
Mr Elia’s company is set to open a Chopstix Noodle Bar in the Overgate Centre, but Mr Chow will tell him that move should be off the menu when they come face to face on Thursday.
He is calling on Mr Elia to chop the name Chopstix from the Dundee noodle bar’s title, but Mr Elia says it is a vital ingredient.
Mr Elia said: “I am coming to Dundee to meet Mr Chow and see what can be done to make him comfortable with us opening in the city.
“The work on the unit in the Overgate is nearly complete and we may open on Thursday, but I can’t compromise on our name. We have trademarked our Chopstix name and have been trading for about 12 years.
“The Dundee outlet will be our 20th and our second in Scotland, and we are looking forward to its opening. We both have the word Chopstix in our titles but our two businesses are quite different.
“We are a fast-food noodle bar serving mainly noodle-based meals in carton boxes.”
He continued: “Our customers can sit in but most of our trade is take-away. We will be in the shopping centre which means we are open during the day time.
“Mr Chow operates an a la carte restaurant serving traditional Chinese meals mainly in the evenings. “It also does home deliveries which we don’t, so it’s a different type of place.”
Mr Chow said: “I will tell Mr Elia that he has to change the name of his noodle bar in Dundee. News of the noodle bar’s opening is already causing confusion and I think this will continue.
“People have visited my restaurant on business for the noodle bar and customers have asked about me opening a restaurant in the Overgate. I believe this confusion could damage my business.”