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Alpana Singh Talks New Restaurant Seven Lions, Life After 'Check, Please!'

By David Matthews | February 26, 2015 5:41am
 A quick look at Seven Lions, the new restaurant from Alpana Singh. 
Seven Lions
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DOWNTOWN — It's been more than two years since Alpana Singh left the set of WTTW-TV's "Check, Please!" to open her own Chicago restaurants.

Sitting at her new Seven Lions restaurant overlooking the Art Institute, she made it clear she's moved on.

"Nobody wants to see 'former' in front of their name," said Singh, who hosted the popular local PBS restaurant review show on Channel 11 for 10 seasons. "I want to be current."

Seven Lions opened last week at 130 S. Michigan Ave., and the reception so far has been "so great," Singh said. 

Dave Matthews says it's a great place to go after work:

The name pays homage to the lion statues guarding the Art Institute, as well as the 50 lions adorning the facade of the restaurant's Daniel Burnham-designed building. It's also a callback to Singh's surname, which means "lion" in Sanskrit, and her grandmother, who called her children her "seven lions," she said. 

It's the second restaurant for Singh, who opened the Boarding House in River North in 2013. The Boarding House, with its ornate light fixtures and James Beard-recognized chef, is more "glam" than the scene set at Seven Lions, Singh said. She deliberately geared the bar to a broad base, given its location near one of Chicago's top cultural attractions.

"It's not special occasion. It's whatever the occasion," she said.

Singh said the menu reflects a "clubhouse" vibe, with items including everything from a $12 chicken-and-duck club sandwich to a $65, dry-aged 22-ounce bone-in ribeye steak. Drinks include local brews, spirits and an extensive list of wines picked by Singh, a sommelier and former director of wine and spirits at Lettuce Entertain You restaurants.

Seven Lions also features numerous private dining areas, including a lower-level event area where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra once rehearsed. 

Her favorite dishes on the menu? A $22 relish tray with meats, cheese and seafood; or an $11 brussels sprout and burrata toast appetizer. 

"I'm always daydreaming"

Singh admitted it was "difficult" at first running her own restaurant, as well as adjusting to life after "Check, Please!"

With local fame came copious selfie requests from guests, who also brought high expectations for her new business. 

"I had lost touch with truly how popular that show is," she said.

Singh said she welcomes those expectations though, which is why she is proud of Boarding House chef Tanya Baker's James Beard Award recognition, and why she is holding off on plans for more restaurants. She prefers to build up her existing ones one at a time. 

"Culture is extremely important in a restaurant," she said.

Still, Singh is backed by two partners who worked in finance, and she said she always is looking for her next challenge. She said she admires Danny Meyer of Union Square Hospitality Group, which owns Shake Shack, among other concepts. But she won't launch her next restaurant until she finds the right "opportunity" (read: location) for her next project.

"I"m always daydreaming," she said. "But restaurants are about real estate."

Seven Lions, 130 S. Michigan Ave., is open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on weekends. 

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