The New Kensington couple open a catering enterprise and assist folks rejoice “any approach they’ll”.

By jimadmin On Dec 21, 2020

Via Call for Catering
who: Philip Call, boss and owner; Jillian Ludwiczak, event planner
Where: 400 Freeport St., New Kensington
Facebook: facebook.com/foodbyphil
phone: 412-480-1170
E-mail: call4catering@gmail.com

After working for others in the restaurant industry for years, Philip Call said the frustration led him to start his own catering business.

Call, 35, from New Kensington, trained in French cooking techniques, says there is one right and correct way to do things, “and then there is everything else.”

“I’ve always been frustrated with people who don’t have the same standards as me,” he said. “When I cook everything is done exactly how I want it to be.”

Call started his company “Call for Catering” in December 2019 with his girlfriend Jillian Ludwiczak (28). He’s the cook, she’s the event planner.

Call was born in Germany into a military family, the son of an Air Force veteran, whose parents come from New Castle. Ludwiczak is from New Kensington.

Call served in the Navy in the Construction Battalion known as the Seabees.

A graduate of the late Pittsburgh Culinary Institute in 2009, Call spent most of his career serving as a sous-chef in several Pittsburgh restaurants. Most recently he fronted the caretaker at Allegheny Country Club in Sewickley Heights. Ludwiczak is a nurse at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh and was a restaurant waiter.

They work in the kitchen of Stella’s Restaurant in Parnassus, where they met a little over four years ago. She was a waiter while he worked in the kitchen after Stella appeared on the Food Network reality show “Restaurant: Impossible” in 2015.

As a full-service caterer that can serve two to 250 customers, “we can produce any type of experience you’re looking for,” said Call.

There is no menu.

“I like developing the menu with the customer,” he said. “I cook everything. I like to do everything from scratch. “

In addition to on-site catering, Call and Ludwiczak organized events at Stella’s. Before the Covid pandemic forced them to quit, there was a sold out three-course Valentine’s Day dinner and fish fries during Lent.

A five-course lamb tasting was planned for April but has been canceled. A pasta dinner was also planned.

They held monthly Sunday brunch in September and October but had to cancel for November and December. The menu featured drinks like mimosas and Bloody Marys, as well as main dishes like fried chicken and waffles, grilled French toast casserole, and huevos rancheros.

They were preparing for more events as the pandemic flared up again.

“We knew the pandemic was going to get bad before it got better,” said Call.

Covid made 2020 a difficult and sometimes disastrous year for the hospitality industry. Ludwiczak said April was a “scary month” for them with no income as they stayed home together. Seeing their bookings and events being canceled was heartbreaking and daunting.

However, according to Call, it may have been the perfect year to start a catering business as people want to work from home.

When the first shutdown wore off, “we got calls, ‘Come and cook for us,’” said Ludwiczak. “That kind gave us a second wind.”

Summer was good with outdoor events like graduation ceremonies and baby and wedding showers. They hosted an outdoor wedding at AK Research Park in October.

With authorities advising against large indoor gatherings and restaurants this holiday season, Call said there are some smaller events with just six or eight people coming up.

While the pandemic has made things challenging, “We had a lot of fun this first year, despite everything,” Call said.

“It was fun,” said Ludwiczak. “People were so excited to be partying in every possible way.”

In the hope that the covid vaccines will work and things can return to normal, Call and Ludwiczak plan to hold events at Stella again and drive a food truck in the future. Call would like to have its own shop with its own kitchen at some point.

“If there is a full return to normal, I would love to have my own restaurant,” said Call. “If not, the sporadic event catering business might be the way to go.”

Ludwiczak said she hopes people find out what she and Call are doing, think of them at events and come in and try their food.

“We just want our chance to feed New Ken,” she said.

Brian C. Rittmeyer is a contributor to Tribune-Review. You can contact Brian at 724-226-4701, brittmeyer@triblive.com, or on Twitter.

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