Chef Sylva Senat leaves Maison 208 in Center City

Chef Sylva Senat has parted ways with Maison 208, the corner bar-restaurant in Washington Square West that he helped to open last year.

His associate Uri Pierre Noel said he and his business partners at Maze Hospitality were still in the progress of a financial-separation agreement.

In a statement to Philadelphia Media Network, Senat said his management company, Senat & Co., was no longer an active partner in Maison, which opened in June 2017 at 13th and Chancellor Streets. The site formerly was a Dewey's eatery and later Letto Deli.

I await a call from Herb Reid, a partner at Maze.

Also, state records show that Maison's liquor license has expired; Senat is not listed as an officer on the license.

Senat has other irons in the fire. Over the summer, he signed on as executive chef of the Pyramid Club. Next week, he also is due to open Baby Buns, a stand selling sliders, at the new Bourse food hall.

"I'm sad to leave Maison 208, just as I am every time I leave a space I created," he said in the statement. "I'm proud of all I have accomplished in the time I was there and am certain the talented team will continue to provide outstanding food and service to their customers."

Senat, 41, a native of Haiti who grew up in Brooklyn, has a Who's Who of power restaurants on his resumé, including the Sign of the Dove, Aquavit, Jean Georges, and Mercer Kitchen. He was part of the opening team at the Manhattan branch of Buddakan in 2006. After stops in France and Puerto Rico, he returned to the Starr Restaurant fold and landed in Philadelphia at Buddakan on Chestnut Street. From there, he opened the flashy, Indian-inspired Tashan on South Broad Street, which he left two years before its 2015 closing.

Senat also mentors students via the Career Through Culinary Arts Program.