Sbraga taps an old hand as chef at Sbraga

Michael Rouleau, who started at Sbraga as a line cook at its 2011 opening, is now the Broad Street restaurant's chef de cuisine.

The Connecticut-bred Rouleau had left Kevin Sbraga's employ for six months starting in late 2013 (around the opening of The Fat Ham), working at Art Cavaliere's In Riva in East Falls. When Rouleau returned to the Sbraga fold, "he came back as a prep cook," Sbraga said. "It was the only position we had available."

He worked his way up to running private events. A year later, Sbraga asked him to run Sbraga but Rouleau said he didn't think he was ready.

Then came the lead-up to the opening of Sbraga & Company, the Top Chef's restaurant in Jacksonville, Fla. "I knew pretty quickly that he could do this," Sbraga said. "He's organized, he has a pulse on food, and the creativity. He brought his own ideas."

Rouleau replaces Dan Kennedy, who relocated to upstate New York.

That's Rouleau's octopus dish on the current tasting menu, as well as a riff on chicken au pot and the king crab bucatini.