Paulette Firmin, co-owner of the Marabou Café in Mattapan Square. Seth Daniel photo
Mattapan means “a good place to sit” in the native American language of the Massachusett tribe. The owners of Marabou Café, a Haitian-American restaurant in the heart of Mattapan Square, hope to adapt that definition to “a good place to sit, dine, and enjoy an adult beverage with your meal.”
The Blue Hill Avenue business, co-owned by sisters Paulette Firmin and Guylene Innocent, has become a popular destination in the square for diners seeking authentic Haitian food.
Marabou Café at 1592 Blue Hill Ave. Seth Daniel photo
Last week, they applied for full liquor license to accompany their sit-down dining service.
“Many people told me they didn’t believe it would work,” said Firmin from behind her busy counter last week. “They would say that people only come here for quick dishes at $7 and move along. They didn’t believe people would come in and sit.”
The sisters hope the addition of cocktails, wine, and beer to the menu – a suggestion from Mayor Michelle Wu herself who visited the eatery last year— will solidify the cafe as an anchor restaurant in the business district.
“When the mayor came, she stayed 45 minutes and she was very inspired by the place,” recalled Firmin. “She said I needed to try to get [the license], and she would come back when I had it.”
Marabou Café offers traditional Haitian dishes, with a twist from Firmin’s previous restaurant experience in Florida, and table service at reasonable prices. The sisters are now hoping to offer Caribbean and southern fusion style Sunday brunch in the near future.
While upscale dishes like lambi (conch) in white sauce are on the menu, staples like griot (fried pork), red snapper, lalo (a vegetable and meat stew) and traditional soups are most popular.
The sisters are both registered nurses, but Firmin also moonlighted in the restaurant industry in Florida. Her career as a traveling nurse brought her to a reunion with her sister in Boston, where they found the Haitian restaurant scene lacking the variety and sit-down options in Florida.
“I told my sister we needed to bring something here,” she said. “I decided last year to start looking but never expected to find this space in the middle of Mattapan Square where you find all the cultures coming together…It’s not just a place for Haitians to eat, but every ethnicity and age group. We need other communities to learn about it.”
Firmin and Innocent spent $160,000 on a gut rehab of the space, forging a new kitchen and bathrooms, new serving areas, and a spacious, well-lit dining room with a colorful mural of dancers and a Ra-Ra band – as well as traditional Haitian paintings along the walls.
Yionel Torres, the chair of the recently revived Mattapan Square Main Streets, is rooting for them, too.
“It is what’s needed in the community, people being able to sit down and have an adult meal in the community,” Torres said. “One thing we would absolutely like to see is businesses that will encourage people to spend time in the Square… We want to create more of a destination dining situation.”
Firmin said getting to that reality may take a bit of encouragement and education on their part.
Two of her regular customers are a mother and her son, whom she met when they rushed in for take-out one day. She sensed they needed a break and encouraged them to stay and eat rather than rush home and eat in front of the television. Now, they come in once a week to spend quality time over dinner.
“For it to work, it’s a matter of education,” she said. “I have to let people know they deserve to come sit down and relax with their meal, perhaps have a drink with friends. This is something we all need to do. It’s not a luxury to come sit down and eat at a restaurant in the community.”
Firmin says she’s happy they didn’t listen to skeptics who told her not to invest in Mattapan Square.
“I would tell them there’s nothing wrong with Mattapan Square and we need people to come to the Square and change the image,” she said.
“I don’t think everything good needs to be downtown,” she added. “They have told me the rich people and people from other communities won’t come here. I say, ‘One day they will.’”
Marabou Café is located at 1592 Blue Hill Ave. and is open from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The hours would change if the Café were to gain a liquor license.
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Seth Daniel photos
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A colorful Haitian-themed mural done by Firmin’s daughter adorns one side of the dining room, setting the tone.
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The comfortable, clean, and spacious dining room at Marabou Café.
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Paulette Firmin and her sister, Guylene Innocent, opened the café last August and hope to take the next step soon.
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