(Credit: Alpana Singh)
CHICAGO (CBS) — Alpana Singh of “Check, Please” fame is planning to open a new wine bar and restaurant, according to a published report.
Singh hosts the weekly restaurant review show on WTTW-Channel 11, and is also known as a master sommelier. She tells Crain’s Chicago Business that she is planning to open a restaurant with Matt Fisher and John Ward, owners of the Bistronomic French bistro at 840 N. Wabash Ave.
The location for the restaurant has not been determined, but Crain’s reports they have been eyeing a building at Wells and Superior streets in River North.
The building at 720 N. Wells St. over the years has hosted a string of nightclubs – Cairo, Club 720, and Religion – all of which have ended up closing. The building dates from 1872 – just one year after the Great Chicago Fire – and would require major upgrades to meet city codes, Crain’s reported.
Singh is best known as host of “Check, Please,” a position she took over in 2003 after the departure of original host Amanda Puck. She left her post last year as a buyer and director of wine and spirits at Lettuce Entertain You, and most recently has been passing time as a cheesemonger at Pastoral Artisan Cheese, which has two downtown locations and one on Broadway in East Lakeview, according to her own Web site.
