I’ve known Jillian Ludwiczak for a few years and counting now. Her warm smile and presence upon multiple visits to DiAnoia’s, where she used to work, alongside following each other on social media (because that’s how you really get to know someone these days), has led me to keep up with her life in bits and pieces. I knew she moved on from her previous role at DiAnoia’s, and I was curious about what she was cooking up currently.
Meet Call 4 Catering, which started as a catering company for private events and has now stemmed to operating out of the old Stella’s Restaurant in Parnassus. Which, fun fact, is the very spot Ludwiczak met her now-boyfriend that she runs the business with (and the chef behind it all) Philip Call.
Some could call it love at first bite (I mean, sight), but Ludwiczak calls it a funny coincidence:
“I had been living at home again after undergrad and was back in school. I took a waitressing job at a local family restaurant right down the hill from my parent’s house, Phil had also found himself working at this restaurant despite living about an hour away from it because he was friends with the owners and was driving to the area to train jiu-jitsu! We worked together for about nine months before we ever went from coworkers to dating!”
When they started their business in December of 2019, the duo only had a few months of operation under their belt before the pandemic hit, which has caused them to shift multiple times:
“One thing that [the pandemic] influenced us to do was to figure out how to run this business with just the two of us almost 100% of the time. With staffing issues and constant changes in mandates, it was nearly impossible for us to expand our team consistently. So we’ve learned how to get it done no matter what, and if we have to adapt, we do!”
The couple now runs their operations Thursday – Saturday for dinner, with Sunday brunch every other Sunday. Unfortunately, due to weather, I haven’t been able to make it for a meal, but I have my eye on just about every dish on their brunch menus!
Through everything they share online, I appreciate and can see how much love and dedication is put into every single menu item they serve. There’s also specialness in how close the location is to each of their hearts.
“My favorite part of being located here would have to be that it’s my hometown. My family and friends are here, so many people who love and support us are here, it’s a great community that has a lot to offer, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be a business owner here and being a part of bringing the city back to what it once was!”
If anyone wants to plan a date for brunch soon, definitely call me because Call For Catering is on the top of my list!
With Valentine’s Day in the air, I love to ask people in business with their significant other: what is their favorite part of working together? I can only imagine that it’s quite the roller coaster!
With Ludwiczak’s consistently positive attitude, she shared this: “My favorite part of working with my significant other is getting to watch him share his passion and talent with everyone who comes in to dine with us. We spend a LOT of time together, so I see all of his work and people enjoying it. It’s very special and fun for me!”
Timing really is everything, and as a watcher from the sidelines of both this love story turned into a business, it’s truly beautiful to see what happens when two hard-working people create something beautiful, and the people around them are lucky to be able to experience it.
As for the timing of it all, Ludwiczak and Call laugh now about running our restaurant concept in the same restaurant space they met in 6 years ago.
“It feels very meant to be. A lot of things had to align for us to meet, date, and then years later come back to the same space to run our own business!”
Be sure to follow Call For Catering on Instagram for the latest menus and hours, and if you’re in the New Kensington area, be sure to stop in for brunch or dinner when you can!
Instagram: call_for_catering
