Chef Senat

Chef Sylva Senat is A French-speaking Haitian native with Manhattan fine-dining sensibilities. Chef Senat is a kitchen-trained, not culinary-school-educated chef, who learned from some of the absolute best including Marcus Samuelsson, Jean Georges, and Stephen Starr. The  James Beard Foundation nominated chef, who has appeared on Top Chef Season 14 and Food Network’s Chopped started his culinary journey at The Sign of The Dove where he got his early training with the talented Chef Andrew D’Amico. 

When the restaurant closed in 1998, Richard Grausman founder of C-CAP Foundation introduced him to Marcus Samuelsson at Aquavit where he worked for three years. It was while working with Marcus that Sylva exposed his palate to exotic flavors and ingredients. Having learned all he could at Aquavit, Marcus introduced Sylva to Jean-Georges at the Trump Hotel Central Park where he worked for three years before becoming Jean-Georges’ Sous Chef. He then moved on to being co-chef de cuisine at Jean-Georges’ 66 Leonard Street and Mercer Kitchen. A year at the trendy Stephen Starr restaurant, Buddakan in New York, taught Sylva new Asian techniques and flavors. 

That same year, Sylva entered the Daniel Boulud /C-CAP scholarship competition and won an all-expenses-paid trip to France and the opportunity to study at the famed Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon. He later opened Buddakan in Philadelphia and helmed the kitchen at Tashan, Maison 208, and The Pyramid Club.