Alexandra Cherniavsky
The Love | Philadelphia
April 2019
Alexandra Cherniavsky grew up in hospitality, working at her parents’ restaurant in Oxford, Pennsylvania on the weekends. After completing a degree in theater arts and art history from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Cherniavsky’s search for employment landed her at Stage Left, a steakhouse with a 900-bottle wine list. At Stage Left, she worked her way from wine upstart to somm with mentorship from Owner and Sommelier Francis Schott.
By 2013, Cherniavsky was ready for her first role as a wine director and moved to Philadelphia to lead the wine team at Le Bec Fin. Next, she became wine director at Justin Bogle’s Avance, earning Wine Spectator’s “Best of Award of Excellence” in 2014. She followed up with another wining wine list at Jose Garces’ Amada. During Cherniavsky’s tenure at there, the restaurant won Wine Spectator’s “Award of Excellence” in 2015 and 2016, as well as a place on their list of the “10 Best Spanish Wine Lists in America” in 2016. In 2017, she joined the Starr Restaurants family as the beverage manager at The Love, which was named one of Esquire’s “Best New Restaurants of 2018.” Using small groups of “micro-lists” to organize her wine list, Cherniavsky is able to showcase many diverse and uncommon wines, including those made in Pennsylvania.
Cherniavsky is an advanced sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers and a certified specialist of wine through the Society of Wine Educators. She is currently studying for her Master’s pin.
