Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published November  , 2006 Click here for the current edition 7 On Fulton Gets A First-Class New Chef Vicky Bayley's history of hiring hot young chefs just before they hit the big time adds another chapter. She's just brought Michael Sichel into 7 On Fulton, her restaurant in the Riverfront Hotel in the Warehouse District. Sichel has only been in New Orleans a couple of years, and has had to fight with bad luck all the way. He reopened Indigo on Bayou Road a few months before the hurricane. Next, he showed up at the Cellars of Culinaria, the beautiful cooking-school-with-dining-room on Carondelet Street. He launched an excellent restaurant there, but the place was shut down by the owners before the word really got out. By luck, I first met Sichel about three years ago, during the Napa Wine Auction. He was at the time the executive sous chef at Auberge de Soleil, one of the best restaurants in the wine country. He did a spectacular tasting menu for us, and then confided that he was looking to come to New Orleans. Before that, he graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, then cooked in Provence, at Rubocon in San Francisco, and the Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. Sichel says that his food will be "French based and New Orleans inspired," a formula that has worked well here for two hundred years. It will be great to see his particular take on the synthesis. Sichel replaces David English, former chef at Cobalt, who did a brilliant opening menu for the restaurant and stayed there for about six months before moving on. Vicky Bayley's other major finds include John Besh, who worked for her at Artesia, and Mike Fennelly, who was her chef at Mike's on the Avenue. This is good news. Michael Sichel can really cook. 7 On Fulton. 700 Fulton (in the Riverfront Hotel). 681-1034. © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com