Over the years, Marination grew steadily, expanding from Big Blue to its first brick-and-mortar location: Marination Station in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Their two largest restaurants include Marination Ma Kai on Alki Beach with its stunning oceanside patio, and their super cool, full-service Super Six in Columbia City, which serves as the commissary kitchen and offers a killer brunch. By the time Amazon came knocking, Marination was well-known and beloved.
Marination Ma Kai on Alki Beach, with its stunning waterfront patio overlooking Seattle, WA.
“They invited us to be on the ground level of one of their locations, right next to the iconic glass biospheres,” Edison says. “That was a huge honor because they had every food option in the nation to choose from.” In addition, Edison and Saxton are partners in Pioneer Square’s Good Bar, a restored Seattle location serving classic cocktails and local bites. But that’s not the end of their delicious, creative offerings. They’re about to let loose Little Blue, a smaller truck that includes shave ice, plus Tagalong, a mobile luau trailer launching in the summer of 2018. Regardless of whether it’s a truck or a brick-and-mortar location, Edison and Saxton have a knack for turning uncommon spaces into go-to dining experiences that share a distinct aloha vibe.
Along with being incredibly passionate and creative entrepreneurs, they’re well-matched business partners. “Kamala is the people person,” Edison shares. “She sees the big picture, and she's incredibly intuitive about working with different personalities. I run the systems operations and financial aspects of the business. The way we worked together in the charter school translated perfectly into how we manage our company.”