Michael Sabella

Michael Sabella is an author, chef, restaurateur, and culinary consultant whose roots in San Francisco stretch back more than a century.

His great-grandfather emigrated from Sicily in 1887 and made his living fishing the waters of San Francisco Bay. The Sabella family later established a San Francisco restaurant in 1920, and Michael became the fourth generation of his family to carry on the business. That family history—and the stories, traditions, personalities, and immigrant experiences passed down through generations—provided much of the inspiration for his historical fiction.

Over a career spanning more than four decades, Sabella has worked as a restaurant owner-operator, culinary instructor, business and marketing professional, and consultant. His culinary consulting work has included projects with the United States Air Force, where he has worked on food-service operations, menu development, culinary training, and related initiatives.

His debut novel, Through Blood and Fog, combines his Sicilian heritage with the history of nineteenth-century San Francisco. Set against the fishing wharves, immigrant neighborhoods, political corruption, and criminal underworld of the Gilded Age, the novel follows Luca Santoro, a young Sicilian immigrant drawn into a dangerous struggle over family, loyalty, power, and the truth behind his father’s disappearance.

For Sabella, the story is more than historical fiction. It is rooted in the world his own family entered when they came to America—and in the generations that followed.