The team at Martin Cooks restaurant on Connecticut Street has opened up a satellite take-out food business at the Elmwood Express Mini Market (Sunoco Station), located in-between Bryant and Hodge. The premise behind the yet-to-be-named take-out eatery is to offer up some quick and delicious food to anyone looking for lunch or dinner in the Elmwood Village – especially people who might be feeding a family (whole fried chicken) or looking to chow down on some pork belly tacos. The menu also features their longtime staple – sesame noodles. Soon they will be adding Burmese chicken salad to the (currently) streamlined menu.
It turns out that the convenience market was already outfitted with a kitchen that the operators weren’t even using. Martin Danilowicz, owner of Martin Cooks, walked in one day and inquired about setting up the satellite location. Martin and his girlfriend once saw a similar relationship between a gas station and an eatery in Santa Barbara, and felt that it was a neat concept. “I like the dichotomy of it,” Martin told me. “I like the idea of a combined space that has different services. In Santa Barbara there was a pizza oven, and they were serving up artisanal pizzas. We never would have known about it, but we were filling up with gas and walked out with a pizza. So I walked into the Sunoco mini market in my neighborhood and asked what they thought of the idea. They loved it.”
Down the road, the satellite take-out eatery will be adding additional menu items such as chili, Bolognese, and a full-on taco bar. They also have access to deli cases where they will be able to prepare even foods for pick-up.
Customers can stop in to the satellite restaurant starting this Thursday, August 6, 2015.
