Chef Sylva Senat is 33 years old. He is a French speaking Haitian native.

He has trained with Andrew D'Amico when he was at the Sign of the Dove; Marcus Samuelsson, who made Senat his sous chef at Aquavit; and Jean-George Vongerichten, who made Senat chef de cuisine at 66 Leonard Street and the Mercer Kitchen.

Senat served as a judge in this year's Philadelphia C-Cap culinary competition, and spoke at an April awards ceremony, where local students received scholarships.C-Cap, a nonprofit that works with high schools nationwide to train urban teens in the culinary arts helped pave the way for Senat. http://www.ccapinc.org/history.php

He was Michael Schulson's sous chef at Buddakan, N.Y., in 2006-07. p> In 2007, Senat signed on as executive chef at a new restaurant, Koco at El San Juan Hotel in Puerto Rico.

Now in the Philadelphia Buddakan, Senat works under executive Executive Chef Mark Hellyar.http://www.buddakan.com/. Check out www.ccapinc.org for culinary scholarships.