Saba Wahid Duffy, the Framingham-born chef who broke out on Food Network competitions, is putting down permanent roots in Somerville’s Union Square. Her Kush brand, which built a loyal following as a modern Mediterranean food truck, is settling into a compact brick-and-mortar carved out of a Sanborn Court garage. The new space lets Duffy roll out an expanded, halal-forward menu that she said the truck simply could not handle, capping a long-planned upgrade for a chef who turned TV winnings into a food truck and then into a neighborhood fixture.
Where it will be
City licensing records show that Kush By Saba LLC, doing business as Kush Modern Mediterranean, has secured a Wine and Malt with Cordials and Liqueurs license for 5 Sanborn Court, with a 16-seat indoor dining room and set operating hours. According to City of Somerville licensing minutes, commissioners approved the license after Duffy outlined the space’s 1,700 total square feet, including about 574 square feet dedicated to dining. As reported by Boston Business Journal, she has stepped away from the truck to focus on the new restaurant.
What she’ll serve
The restaurant menu will bring back the truck’s greatest hits and layer on fuller plates plus a small dessert lineup. Diners can expect items like sweet potato-and-feta croquettes, a lamb merguez burger, spicy mac and cheese topped with merguez crumble, and larger entrees including coffee-braised lamb shank and oven-roasted salmon. The operation will lean halal and shift from daytime counter service into a more polished dinner experience, according to Boston Magazine.
From truck to table
At a public licensing hearing, Duffy told commissioners she had run Kush as a food truck for years and that the mobile setup limited the dishes she could create, a detail noted in the city’s meeting minutes. Her national profile began when she won Food Network’s Chopped: Martha’s Rules, a victory she used to launch the truck and build the Kush brand, per coverage of her TV run and local reporting such as Mashed.
What it means for Union Square
The 16-seat spot adds another tightly focused, chef-driven option to Union Square and slots into a broader Greater Boston trend of food trucks turning into permanent storefronts. Boston Magazine’s 2026 openings tracker points to several projects making the jump from mobile or pop-up models to brick-and-mortar spaces, a reminder that landlords and diners alike still love small, high-quality concepts. Duffy has also tapped local talent and training programs while shaping the new service model, according to local reporting.
