Andrew Fidelman

Andrew Fidelman was hit by the wine bug when he was 19 years old. While attending Michigan State University earning a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology, he worked as a waiter at the finest restaurant in East Lansing. The wine program was extensive, and Andrew had the opportunity to participate in his first “blind” tasting.

From then on, I wanted to read about producers, study the major regions and taste the vast array of wine available in the world. Although wine became a priority in my life, I still wanted to attend graduate school. While studying for a master’s degree in Bilingual/Bicultural Education (Spanish/English), I worked at Tribute, a grand award wine program with a James Beard honored chef in Detroit. I worked as a teacher in Detroit, Oakland and San Francisco while studying wine in my spare time. I made the full change to wine/restaurant work when I landed a job at La Folie. From there, I went on to Aqua, Michael Mina, and The Village Pub and eventually opened and co-wrote the wine list at Spruce. I was reunited with Laurent and Chris in 2009 when we opened Blanc et Rouge. Over the years, we discussed opening a wine bistro with a full retail section that reflected the cuisine and wines of Southwest France.