Mighty Bite transitions from food van to permanent café amid pandemic-driven expansion
Darlington's family-run Mighty Bite food business, born during the pandemic from a small van, is opening a permanent café to boost resilience and future growth, offering an expanded menu and a welcoming space for customers.
Mighty Bite, the Darlington food business built from a small van bought during the pandemic, is moving into a permanent café on Red Barnes Way, with the new site due to open on Monday, 5 October. According to the Northern Echo, the family-run venture will trade from the unit facing McMullen Road after spending around three months turning the empty space into a fully fitted premises.
The business was founded in 2020 by Natalia Domaszk and her husband, Daniel, after Natalia lost her job as a breakfast chef at Crathorne Hall Hotel during the Covid-19 outbreak. What began as a modest black food van bought from friends in Edinburgh gradually developed into a popular local fixture, with Daniel later joining the business to help serve customers while Natalia cooked. Their move into bricks and mortar comes after a difficult period in which the van had to close when Natalia underwent surgery linked to endometriosis and bowel problems.
The new café will keep the core Mighty Bite menu in place while widening the offer to include protein shakes, smoothies, healthier dishes, chicken and rice, salads, cold sandwiches and Polish cakes and other bakes. Customers will be able to eat in at two tables and a bench-style breakfast bar, although the operation will initially remain limited to the same hours as the van, from 8.30am to 2pm, Monday to Friday.
Natalia said the expansion was designed in part to give the business more resilience while she recovers from another operation, allowing Daniel to keep trading with a pared-back menu if needed. The couple also hope the move will create room for future growth and may eventually sell the van if their lease is extended. Their story fits a wider pattern seen among small food businesses since the pandemic, with some taking the step from mobile or delivery-only trading into permanent cafés in search of stability, more visibility and a broader customer base. They say they are excited, if slightly anxious, to welcome regulars into a space they have built themselves from scratch.
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