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Philly chef Sylva Senat to appear on Bravo's 'Recipe for Deception'

Another local chef is making his way to the small screen.

Another local chef is making his way to the small screen.

Dos Tacos' own Sylva Senat will appear on Bravo's newest cooking competition series, Recipe for Deception, when it airs Thursday at 10 p.m. Featured as a competitor, Senat will participate alongside three other chefs for the series' "You're Bacon Me Crazy" episode.

"One call and a couple of emails later," Senat says of the casting process, "and I'm flying to L.A." His appearance will serve as his first time participating in a cooking show.

Based around the parlor game "Two Truths and a Lie," the show has host Max Silvestri guiding participants through three elimination rounds. Each round features a secret main ingredient, and chefs may ask one another "yes" or "no" questions to determine that that ingredient is. The winner is determined by judges Jonathan Waxman and Chris Oh.

"It was a little intimidating in the beginning," Senat says of filming. "It really pushed a lot of different things out of me that I didn't know existed."

Senat, a native New Yorker of Haitian descent, first rose to prominence here in Philadelphia after serving as chef at the now-closed Tashan. He departed in 2013, with owner Munish Narula bringing in chef Kirti Pant to fill his spot thereafter.

Following his departure from Tashan, Senat began working on building his own restaurant group, which would have started with an eatery dubbed Maison 208 at the old Letto Deli location at 13th and Chancellor. However, an arson fire last year at the site threw those plans into disarray as cleanup and restructuring began.

"The fire really set us back," Senat says. "We were supposed to get the building back the first week of February, but we can't do anything until it is structurally sound and we bring out engineers again."

As a result, Maison 208 is about two years in the making with no conclusion currently in sight. And Senat, for his part, is on the fence about continuing its construction because, as he puts it, "there are other restaurants" in his future.

"I don't know if its time to walk away and look for something new," he says. "There is still a restaurant in my future. There are other restaurants and concepts that I want to do. We want to keep everything rolling and make sure there are other options."

As for catching his episode of Recipe for Deception, though, might not have any options. Dos Tacos is open until midnight on Thursdays, and Senat is working for the premiere.

"I'm going to try and sneak out before 10 and watch it," he says. "The boys are excited. I'm super exited."

Recipe for Deception airs Thursday at 10 p.m. on Bravo.