Who is in the Kitchen making all this Magic? Meet Our Chef Michael Sichel

Michael Sichel, whose cooking style draws on his experiences at leading restaurants in France and the United States, has joined 7 on Fulton as Executive Chef. Sichel is a native New Yorker whose first encounter with south-Louisiana cuisine came during the 10 months he spent in 1999 as executive chef at Kean’s Carriage House in St. Francisville.

Vicky Bayley, who opened 7 on Fulton in early 2006, said she came to know Sichel when he inquired about a position at another of her restaurants. “Then I had his cooking at The Cellar (Sichel’s previous post) and quickly became a fan. I was thrilled by his passion for food and his desire to please people.”

Sichel said his culinary style at 7 is “French-based and New Orleans-inspired.” Among the dishes appearing on the initial menus are a wild-mushroom soup with oysters and truffle-whipped egg yolk, warm crabmeat with lemon mascarpone and curry foam, and bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin with pork belly in sauce naturelle. “The exciting dining environment in New Orleans was a major factor in my decision to work here,” Sichel said. “People in this city have truly refined palates, which is one more motivation for me to maintain high standards, to use the best technique with the best seasonal product available.”

Sichel, who holds an associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., spent a year working under chef Pascal Morel at the renowned Abbaye de Sainte Croix in Salon de Provence, France. His other early postings included such widely respected American restaurants as Rubicon in San Francisco, Gotham Bar & Grill in New York, and Chicago’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel. Before moving to the city last year, Sichel cooked for four years in California’s Napa Valley at the Auberge du Soleil, eventually becoming the executive sous-chef in the inn’s award-winning kitchen. Shortly after arriving in New Orleans in 2005 he reopened Indigo in Mid-City, and more recently was executive chef, partner and general manager at The Cellar at Culinaria in the Lower Garden District.