Marination Ma Kai on Alki Beach, with its stunning waterfront patio overlooking Seattle, WA.
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.
“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.”