Michael Martir Believes ‘Effort Is The Most Important Ingredient’

Picture it: It’s 3:30 p.m., a half hour before the doors open, and you’re walking through Pate’s Restaurant with Michael Martir, CEO and managing partner of Coastal Hospitality. Martir moves a mile a minute as he helps his team prepare, high-fiving his bartending staff, cracking jokes with the chefs in the kitchen and asking how everyone’s day has been at the host stand. 

This is Martir in his element — onsite, with his team, continuing to build the fundamental rapport that is needed for a successful night. This is what he believes is the future of hospitality. 

Coastal Hospitality, established in 2024, owns and operates six restaurants across the Lower Cape, including Pate’s, The Chatham Cut, The Dog House, One Stop Market and Bodega, Chapin’s Bayside, and the newest addition to the portfolio, Codo Mexican Kitchen. 

Martir, a born-and-raised New Yorker, is a third generation chef. His great uncle was the opening chef at the Waldorf Astoria, the iconic New York hotel and restaurant, and his mom was the head server at the Russian Tea Room. While hospitality was in his blood, his early expectations were far from the industry. 

“When you grew up in New York in the 1970s, there were three things you could be,” he said. “A doctor, a lawyer or an astronaut.”

Raised by a single mother, Martir remembers frequenting her places of work, dressed in a tuxedo, bringing coffee to the table for tips. He remembers being fascinated by the personalities that worked behind the scenes. 

“It felt natural, all were welcome in the restaurant business,” he said.

Throughout his teenage years, Martir worked at local restaurants. His first position was working in prep at Lombardi’s Pizza in Little Italy, which is considered the oldest pizzeria in New York City. 

By the time he graduated from high school, his future was set and he was on his way to law school in Buffalo. To afford college, Martir would spend his summers on a dragger out of Montauk. Every fall, he would reappear at the bursar’s office with $9,200 in cash for the year. 

The cutthroat world of law school wasn’t super appealing to him. Martir kept returning to the feeling of happy customers and instant gratification he got from the hospitality industry. He left Buffalo and headed back into the city in search of a chef position. 

“My shtick was, I'd knock on the back door and I would say, ‘Let me work here for a week, and if you don't like my work, I'll leave. And if you like my work, hire me,” he said. 

Over the course of the next few years, Martir held a variety of positions at high-end restaurants. He traveled to Chicago and worked with Charlie Trotter. He flew to France and was a chef at a Michelin three-star restaurant. 

Eventually, he went back to New York to work with a friend who at the time was running the James Beard Lunch Series, an exclusive culinary experience. Martir volunteered there every chance he could get, meeting the likes of Bobby Flay and Thomas Keller. With all the experience and connections he garnered, Martir ended up working as an assistant on Julia Childs’ TV show.  

After his stint with Childs, Martir traveled the country with Bon Appetit Magazine, hosting food and wine tasting events. He then settled back into restaurant life, working in a few different kitchens. 

In 2000, he got a call from the managing partners at the Wequasset Resort with the idea to totally transform their restaurant. After rigorous interviews with the staff, he accepted a position and moved his family to the Cape. For eight years, Martir and his partner built what is now 28 Atlantic. 

During the recession in 2008, Martir was contracted to help address issues at Chatham Bars Inn. There was talk of laying off the executive leadership committee, but one of the executives decided to use his personal capital to pay the team out of pocket. 

“That was a very monumental moment because I came from a culture where you got stuff thrown at you and there was definitely a demand to execute at a very high level, but there was no empathy,” he said. “That was the first real moment where I was like, this guy has millions of dollars and he’s picking this particular moment to write checks for people’s salaries. He cares.” 

After his work at CBI was done, he stayed on Cape Cod and found a position as the director of culinary for Smithfield Foods, a large pork producer that worked with 19 independent operating companies and numerous contracts with quick-service restaurants. Because the recession was still lingering, Martir was laid off and decided to start his own consulting company for brands like Costco, Walmart and Kroger. He would help identify cost-saving opportunities with manufacturers around the world without letting them “double-dip” and up-charge the buyer. 

Eleven years later, Martir sold his consulting business and took some time off work to spend with his family. By 2019, he was back in the restaurant business. He purchased The Dog House with the idea to rebrand it and make it a legacy business with the focus on the employees. 

For Martir and his wife, Libby, this was an opportunity to craft the ideal employee experience where workers felt respected, valued and trusted. 

“It was an eye-opening experience for a lot of reasons,” said Martir. “We interacted with a younger generation that communicates totally different than we do, so we learned a ton about them and how to communicate with them effectively.” 

Eventually, they purchased the One Stop during the heart of COVID-19. While it was a stretch to own multiple restaurants, Martir and his wife agreed that it was a natural evolution if they wanted to support the kids who worked there year-round. 

Martir set up 401Ks for the staff, provided educational resources about interest rates and other financial details, and chose to spotlight life skills. His whole philosophy was centered around the idea of investing in the people who did the work to run the business, serve on the floor, cook in the kitchen and help facilitate a customer’s experience. 

He also approached the business with the mentality that “the customer is not always right.” He said he put the trust in his staff and would have their backs if customers were rude or mean. It helped to build a strong foundation where the team respected him as an owner and knew they could count on him when things went wrong. 

“I really want to make a difference in hospitality,” he said. “This gives me the kind of support and firepower to make a difference on Cape, so I’m interested.”

In just over a year and a half, Martir has established an employee-first culture at Pate’s and the other restaurants, helped open a new restaurant, and crafted a team of people he feels are some of the best in the industry. It’s easy to see how influential his presence is at each restaurant. 

“I think he’s a riot,” said Jillian Kelley, bar manager at Codo. “He’s got a really great, dry sense of humor, which I appreciate. And he’s clearly worked in the business for a really long time so it’s easy to talk to him about stuff. I feel like he’s given me really clear guidelines for what he expects from me and then, at the same time, he can have a really good amount of levity when the time calls for it.” 

Damien Wiseman worked with Martir at the Wequassett. After graduating from college, Wiseman moved to New York City and found a job through Martir at the James Beard Foundation. For about 15 years, he and his parents have owned and operated Mooncussers in Harwich Port, which is now for sale. He stumbled upon an open job opportunity and found out it was for one of Martir’s restaurants. Wiseman jumped at the chance to work with him again. 

“It was comforting,” he said. “And the thing was, this group is super interesting. Six restaurants. This is an opportunity for me to go within a good company.” 

Above all, Martir prioritizes the growth of all his employees. 

“In my opinion, within hospitality, our employees are our first guests, and we have a responsibility to treat them with care and respect,” he said. “At the same time, true leadership means holding each other accountable to the standards that make our business — and our culture — great. We understand that this level of commitment and responsibility isn’t for everyone, and that’s OK. But if we don’t set the bar high and challenge ourselves and each other, we’re not truly serving our teams or teaching the next generation what it means to succeed in hospitality. We owe it to ourselves — and to the future of this industry — to try. Effort is the most important ingredient in my kitchen.”

While he will be transitioning out of the CEO role, Martir will focus predominantly on the strategic growth of the group, which means more locations.

“We probably have four locations on deck, but that’s as far as you’re going to get from me,” he said with a chuckle. 

Martir is also in the process of developing a nonprofit within the Coastal Hospitality umbrella to support hospitality workers in times of need. In the Weeds is a foundation that will provide comprehensive support for Cape Cod hospitality workers through emergency housing assistance, mental health resources, wellness programs, and career development opportunities.

He hopes his impact on the industry will be holistic, supporting every facet of service workers on Cape Cod and beyond.