Beverly Kim facts for kids
| Education | Kendall College |
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Current restaurant(s)
Parachute
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Previous restaurant(s)
The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, Red Light, Charlie Trotter's, Prairie Grass Cafe, Opera, Aria (Fairmont Hotel)
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Television show(s)
Top Chef (season 9)
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Award(s) won
2019 James Beard Foundation Award, Best Chef: Great Lakes
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Beverly Kim is a famous chef and restaurant owner. She won a special award called the James Beard Award. You might also know her from the TV show Top Chef, where she competed in 2011. Beverly Kim owns a restaurant in Chicago called Parachute, which has a special award called a Michelin star. In 2019, she and her husband, Johnny Clark, opened another restaurant nearby called Wherewithall.
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Becoming a Chef: Beverly Kim's Early Life
Beverly Kim grew up in Downers Grove, Illinois. Her parents moved there from Korea. When she was in high school, Beverly became very interested in cooking. She wrote to chefs in the Chicago area to learn more. She even got to work for a short time with a chef named Sarah Stegner at The Ritz-Carlton in Chicago. After high school, Beverly went to Kendall College to study cooking. She finished her studies in 2000.
Beverly Kim's Culinary Journey
After finishing culinary school, Beverly Kim worked at several well-known restaurants. She returned to The Ritz-Carlton and also worked at Charlie Trotter's. She worked with Sarah Stegner again at Prairie Grass Cafe. Later, she became the main chef at Opera and then at Aria, both in Chicago's Fairmont Hotel.
Competing on Top Chef
In 2011, Beverly Kim joined the TV show Top Chef for its ninth season. The show took place in Texas. She did very well, winning a challenge called "Restaurant Wars." She also won the "Last Chance Kitchen" competition. Beverly finished in fourth place overall on the show.
Opening Her Own Restaurants
In 2012, Beverly Kim was asked to lead a Michelin-starred restaurant called Bonsoirée in Chicago. However, the restaurant closed after only two months. After that, she went back to her old school, Kendall College, to teach a special cooking class.
In 2014, Beverly Kim and her husband, Johnny Clark, opened their very own restaurant. They named it Parachute, and it is located in Avondale, Chicago. Parachute serves modern Korean-American food. The restaurant quickly became popular. Eater Chicago named it the Restaurant of the Year in 2014. It was also a finalist for the 2015 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. Bon Appétit magazine also said it was one of the best new restaurants in the country in 2015. Parachute earned a Michelin star in the 2016 Michelin Guide for Chicago.
In 2019, Beverly Kim and Johnny Clark won the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Great Lakes region.
Beverly Kim's Family Life
Beverly Kim lives in Chicago with her husband, Johnny Clark, and their two children. Her sister, Lee Ann Kim, is a journalist.
