For the owner of a catering company who’s won Best of the North Bay four times (three consecutive years in a row), Susan Borowicz of Trends Catering is still overwhelmingly humble, “I’m so grateful to all my employees for their part. There’s so much talent. I’m always so overwhelmed when we win.”
Borowicz attributes a lot of her company’s success to the efforts of her small, tight-knit staff—that and Trends’ distinctive ability to renew itself with each coming year, “It’s a fast-growing and changing industry, and it’s becoming more sophisticated. You’re constantly having to remake yourself and bring in new talent.” Borowicz says that her logo, a frog, an Egyptian symbol of regeneration, is indicative of her experience within the industry.
This year, Borowicz’s trick hand is her new dynamic duo: “I have a new chef team: one from the East Coast and one from the West Coast. They’re young, passionate and full of new ideas—and the fusion means it’s so easy to come up with custom menus for every client.”
Customization is what Borowicz believes sets Trends apart. “We’re small and very attentive to each client’s needs. When you sit down and spend any amount of time with us, you go away knowing exactly what you’re going to get,” she says.
Along with ensuring she never throws a “cookie-cutter event,” Borowicz is also adamantly against “bringing any food in with jet fuel.” A long-time supporter of fresh, seasonal produce, she’s begun to move Trends toward an even greener existence. Borowicz and her staff often meet at the kitchen and carpool to event sites. They’ve also begun to use less paper and focus on recycling. “We’re educating ourselves and trying to be more environmentally friendly,” she says.
As a math, science and art major in college, the organizational challenges of catering appeal to Borowicz, as well as the people and relationships she forms through it and the variety of events she creates. Local venues like Trentadue and Vine Hill House are frequent Trends clients, but Borowicz is now starting to think on a bigger scale. “This year, we’re branching out to San Francisco. We’re doing a Russian wedding—with a lot of ice. Ice shot glasses.” Although Trends is planning to stay boutique, expanding its coverage into the greater Bay Area is evidence of its growing success—although, for Borowicz, a self-appointed “farm-girl,” her heart still belongs to Wine Country.
