Liu Fang
Abundance Culinary | Cleveland Heights, OH
July 2025
Before she found her way to the kitchen, Liu Fang worked in the coal mining industry. Born and raised in the Qufu District of China’s Shandong province, Fang moved to the Hubei province to attend college, and, after graduating, got a job at a coal mining compliance company. The role required her to travel around China and overseas, which broadened her understanding of food and how diverse it can be. Drinking was a big part of the equation while dining around the country with colleagues, but Fang found that the beer selection often didn’t match up to the quality of the food. Eventually, she met and married her husband, Carl Setzer, and throughout their adventures to Laos and Belgium, Fang fell in love with craft beer and wanted to bring all she had learned back home to China.
In 2010, the couple opened Great Leap Brewing, Beijing’s first craft brewery, and developed a food program to accompany its beverages. Fang found herself hanging around the kitchen and watching the chefs work, picking up a few tips and tricks. Over the next 10 years, Fang and Setzer opened five locations of Great Leap Brewing across China.
In 2020, they were visiting Setzer’s hometown of Cleveland when the pandemic hit. When they tried to return to China, Setzer was temporarily detained at the Chinese border. Left alone with their infant daughter and eight-year-old son, Fang cooked to keep her mind occupied. While making buns and dumplings into the night, it clicked: she wanted to share the breadth of Chinese cuisines with Cleveland. She got to work and secured a two-day residency at Chef Jeremy Umansky’s Larder Delicatessen & Bakery. In 2023, Fang and Setzer opened Abundance Culinary in the Cleveland Heights neighborhood. Over the past two years, the business has grown, offering dumpling-making classes, hosting charity events, and collaborating with other industry professionals in the area. At the restaurant, Fang is committed to showcasing the culinary evolution of Chinese food through modern, personalized classics.
