About

Born and raised in Monterey, California, it was only natural that Alpana Singh would develop an interest in wine. As the Director of Wine and Spirits for Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, Inc., her duties include wine education and training, purchasing and bar program development for the Chicago based restaurant group. For the past seven years, she has also hosted the three time Emmy Award-winning restaurant review television show, Check, Please! which airs weekly on WTTW Channel 11 in Chicago. In 2006, Singh published her first book, Alpana Pours. Alpana also pens a weekly wine column "Bottle Service" for the Chicago Tribune's RedEye .

Born to Indian parents who moved to California from the Fiji Islands, Singh's family owned an ethnic grocery store in Monterey where she worked at an early age; a life experience that she credits for her present day work ethic and ease with people of all ages. While waiting tables in college, she discovered her love for wine and found that it combined her varied interests of geography, history and food. She achieved her goal of becoming a Master Sommelier by passing the final exam in 2003 at the age of twenty-six.

Prior to her position at Lettuce, Alpana served as Sommelier for Chef J. Joho's Relais Gourmand and Traditions et Qualité restaurant Everest.  In 2006, Bon Appetit named Singh "Wine and Spirits Professional of the Year." She has also been featured in numerous publications including Newsweek, Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, Chicago Tribune, and The New York Times.

Alpana lives in Chicago with her husband, novelist Charles Blackstone and their Pug, the wine snob, Haruki Murakami. In addition to her interest in wine, she enjoys visiting restaurants, removing Pug fur from her clothing and furniture, hosting elaborate dinner parties, reminding Charles about the things he has forgotten to do, taking long road trips and keeping up with her Twitter and Facebook friends.