First Look: Marination Station
The 600-square-footer atop Harvard Market is tentatively slated to open April 15. In creating a permanent branch of their mobile business, co-owners Kamala Saxton and Roz Edison aimed to "bring the truck indoors," both literally with the layout and in spirit. A mural of Marination Mobile—which, it should be said, will continue curbside slinging—will hang in the windows to the right, lending to the idea that the Station is the truck’s "garage."
Expect to see a lot of Saxton at the Station. She’ll head a kitchen crew of three, while Edison will shuffle between the mobile unit and here. No parking, no breakdowns, easy access to the keg: a few of the perks of planting it, grins Saxton. "Now I won’t have to carry my license!" she joshes.
With just enough room to seat a dozen indoors, the Station is cozy, but that’s fine with Saxton and Edison: "There’s something intimate about street food and we wanted to make sure that presence is here." The fridge will get pushed to the west wall of the sitting room, and polaroids of Marination regulars will decorate its exterior. A mural reading "Aloha Served Daily" will hang above the fridge. An area outside will seat another 12 customers.
The counter here is meant to mimic that of the truck and will get tricked out with the same stainless steel. On the other side of it, workers will assemble the Korean-Hawaiian goodies and specials such as kimchi tofu soup, spicy pork torta, or miso ginger chicken bánh mì, while someone else mans the stove not far behind. Marination regulars will immediately recognize the familiarity of the setup.
Hours are set for Monday through Saturday 11-8 and Sunday noon-6. Considering its rowdy neighborhood, will the Station do late night? Nope, not for now, says Saxton.
