Who are we?

Abundance Setting founders Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark are the wife-and-husband team behind two of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants. As chefs/owners of Parachute and Wherewithall, Kim and Clark have garnered near-universal praise from the national press and the dining public. Their approach to Korean-American at Parachute and the free-wheeling borderless cuisine of Wherewithall have won the couple — among other accolades — a Michelin star, a James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes, and a spot on Bon Appetit’s national “Best New Restaurants” list. Kim is a Chicago-area native, the daughter of Korean immigrants, and was the recipient of the 2016 Jean Banchet Award for Rising Chef of the Year. Clark was born in Cincinnati, trained in some of New York City’s most acclaimed fine dining restaurants, and spent four months in South Korea apprenticing at Sandang, a revered temple of Korean gastronomy outside Seoul. The couple lives with their three sons in Chicago.  

Beverly Kim / President & Creative Director

Beverly Kim is a chef, entrepreneur, mother, teacher, volunteer, and one half of the wife-and-husband team behind two of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants. She is the co-owner and chef of Parachute, the Korean-American restaurant awarded a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide, as well as her newest restaurant, Wherewithall. Her cooking has been praised by the likes of Chicago Tribune , Eater , and Bon Appetit . Kim and husband Johnny Clark shared the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Great Lakes.

Mary Belovich / Associate Director

A Cleveland native, Mary grew up cooking with her family and learned her love of food from a young age. She studied Chinese and East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, living in Taiwan for over a year. After spending 7 years working with a Chicago hospitality  PR agency, she has continued her freelance work with various restaurant clients in the city. She brings a passion for women’s rights and the hospitality industry. 

Sarah Stegner

Sarah Stegner is an American chef and co-owner of the Prairie Grass Cafe in Northbrook, IL. She has won two James Beard Foundation Awards, for Rising Star Chef in 1994 and Best Chef Midwest in 1998.

Kimber Wattles

Kimber Wattles is a Colorado native, dedicated hospitality professional and lifelong advocate for women. Her love for the restaurant industry has taken her career across many states, including time at Michelin and James Beard Award-winning restaurants. A passionate student, mentor and volunteer, she hopes to one day combine her and her husband’s passions and open a sustainable farm-to-table event space.

Jodi Fyfe

Always passionate about hospitality and great service, Jodi Fyfe has worked in the food and beverage industry for more than 30 years. Before founding Paramount Events in 2011, Jodi led renowned businesses like Lettuce Entertain You, the Four Seasons in Newport Beach, Aramark and Blue Plate Catering to great success. Today, as the founder & CEO of The Paramount Group, Jodi leads a hospitality group of six brands revolutionizing the service industry through personalized, innovative, and thoughtfully curated culinary and social experiences.

Nina Mariano

Johnny Clark

Chiyo Takemoto

Nina Mariano is a lifelong Chicagoan, foodie, curator of experiences, and  of like-minded people. She was an integral part of grocery chain Mariano’s at its inception in 2010 and founded their still-thriving Tastemaker Program, connecting the brand with top local chefs. As their head of community relations, she forged partnerships with local leaders and introduced each of the dozens of locations to its community, helping create a beloved Chicago brand that was ultimately sold to Kroger. This year, Nina became an investor and partner in Dom’s Kitchen & Market, a luxury food retailer created to address post-COVID shopping habits with easy-to-prepare meals and a curated selection of locally crafted products. Connecting people is her passion, which she inherited from her late father Dominic DiFrisco. Nina’s favorite pastime is breaking bread with family and friends, alternating between in-home dinner parties and supporting her favorite local restaurants. Nina is synonymous with hospitality, service, and fun.

Johnny Clark is the James Beard Award-winning chef behind two of Chicago’s most acclaimed restaurants. Clark, alongside his wife Beverly Kim, are the chefs and co-owners of Parachute, the one Michelin-starred restaurant that melds Korean and American flavors and techniques. Their second restaurant Wherewithall has garnered universal praise, earning three-star ratings from both Chicago Tribune and Chicago magazine. Clark is on the forefront of interpreting Korean cuisine for a new generation; In 2008 he traveled to South Korea for four months to apprentice under the legendary chef Yim Gi-Ho.

Chiyo Takemoto is a Chicago-based entrepreneur, mother, social justice activist, and mentor within the food and beverage space.  She's a hospitality veteran, who spent almost two decades in the hospitality industry, transitioned over to the wholesale distribution side, and then launched her consulting company Coquetel Collective in 2017 that helps emerging beverage brands grow their visibility and sales in-market.  As a working mom who runs her own business, she knows how important it is to have a support system that she can rely on.  "There's that saying 'it takes a village', and we look forward to growing The Abundance Setting into being that village for a lot of parents in the hospitality world."