Cooking up War Memorial stories with Chef Marty

He’s The War Memorial’s longest serving current employee and with it comes a trip down memory lane. 

Since 1999, Martin Astfalk has been on staff at our nonprofit organization, playing a key role on the culinary team. 

“I’ve been through six head chefs and I’m still here,” he jokes.  

Having grown up in the Grosse Pointes, Astfalk remembers one year when his family of 11 came to The War Memorial to take their family Christmas picture on the back balcony, and one photo on the sea wall.   

Chef Marty is seen here, fifth from the right, with his family. This photo was taken on the sea wall at The War Memorial. 

“There’s definitely some history here,” he said.    

In the 1980s and 1990s, Astfalk worked at Sparky Herbert’s in Grosse Pointe Park. 

“It was kind of the hopping place in the 1980s, and I worked there for 16 years,” he said. “I was a dumb kid learning the ropes. That is where I learned a lot.” 

After Sparky’s, he worked at a few other establishments until his War Memorial career began. 

“I had a friend who was a houseman here,” he said. “He said to interview here and I interviewed with the kitchen manager and the head cook. They asked me a few questions and said I start tomorrow.”   

Early on, Astfalk was asked to learn the way operations were done at The War Memorial, and to let management know if there were things that could be improved. 

“We changed a little bit eventually,” he said. “When I started, the staff was half the size of what it is now. On a Friday night, I would do a wedding in the ballroom and a wedding in the Alger House. On a Saturday for lunch, I would do the same. Every Saturday during the wedding season I did four weddings. Then I would have two guys working the ballroom wedding and two guys for the wedding in the house. Now, I have six people helping for one wedding. On the worst weeks, I could be here up to 80 hours.”  

Now the head sous chef, Astfalk said it took him a while to get over the removal of the Knot Gardens, which were where the community room and reflection room in the Fred M. Alger Center currently are. 

Astfalk, 62, shared the story of when the head cook in the late 1990s told him that he wouldn’t get rich working at The War Memorial, but that his co-workers would be wonderful to work with, and he would work in a beautiful setting.  

“Just as nice as the people were back then, they still are,” he said. 

Having a quarter of a century of experience at The War Memorial, Astfalk recalls the days when multiple generations of some families would work here simultaneously.  

“There was a brother and sister who worked here, and there was another girl who started as a teenager and worked for about 30 years,” he said. “Back then, lots of people worked here for 30 years. We would have grandmothers, mothers, and daughters all working here.”    

The Grosse Pointe South High School graduate explained there was another family who the grandmother worked here, the mother was a house housekeeper, and the daughter was a server.  

“When you find a place that you’re comfortable at and you like it that is close to home, then you stay,” Astfalk said in response to why it has been important for him to work at The War Memorial as long as he has. 

This year, as part of our 75th anniversary, The War Memorial will share stories from the public about the impact and experiences they have had at the nonprofit organization. Do you have a special War Memorial story or memory? Join us in telling #myWMstory and share yours!