CHEF RENE JOHNSON • BAY AREA & BEYOND
WHERE SOUL
MEETS CELEBRATION
Fine catering for events that demand the extraordinary
CHOSEN BY LEADING COMPANIES, INSTITUTIONS
AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING
Google · Salesforce · Uber · Airbnb · Nordstrom · Golden State Warriors · USC · BioMarin · Genentech · SFO · City of Oakland
Catering with
warmth, polish & care
Corporate & Executive
Team gatherings, conferences, client receptions,
and company celebrations
Galas & Fundraisers
Occasions where timing, presentation,
and trust carry weight
Weddings & Private Celebrations
Milestones held with beauty, flavor, and care
Tell us the experience you want your guests to have, and we shape the menu, service, and flow around it
Start Planning Your Event
Photo Gallery
OUR FOOD PHILOSOPHY
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Blackberry Soul is more than a catering company;
it's a vibrant food experience curated by a Chef Team who care about the experience of everyone at our table.
Serving the California Bay Area, New York and Beyond
Our Philosophy Is Simple...
Fresh food, thoughtful planning, and flavors that feel both comforting and refined.
Our menus honor Southern soul food classics with a California flair. Traditional fresh vegetable-forward, seasonal, and bright.
Reach out to begin designing a custom,
curated menu for your gathering.
Meet Chef Rene &
BLACKBERRY SOUL FINE CATERING
Blackberry Soul started in a garden. Chef Rene’s grandmother cooked everything fresh, from peaches off the tree to blackberries the grandkids picked by hand. That care is where the food and the name both come from. She left a career in finance to cook full time and built Blackberry Soul around her Soul Fusion style: the soul of traditional Southern food, lightened with fresh, organic California ingredients.
Her work has reached corporate events, civic gatherings, cultural celebrations, and major Bay Area institutions.
She has been featured by Forbes, Business Insider, EBONY, KTLA, KRON 4, TasteTV, NBC Bay Area, and CBS Bay Area. She was named 2025 Powerful Women of the Bay Entrepreneur of the Year and is the author of the celebrated cookbook From My Heart to Your Table.
Chef Rene’s Blackberry Soul team delivers a stylish, soulful culinary experience tailored to each event, with menus, presentation, and service style shaped around the occasion.
Chef Rene believes the true magic happens when people come together around food. Whether Blackberry Soul is preparing a meal for 50 or 1,000, the team’s passion lies in creating experiences where food becomes the centerpiece of connection and joy.
A little bit of love in every bite.
As Seen In
Forbes · Business Insider · EBONY · NBC Bay Area · CBS Bay Area · KRON 4 · KTLA · TasteTV
Also Featured By
N’DigoHuffPost · Well+Good · VegWorld · iHeartRadio’s Fork Report · WREG · CNBNews · Lee Bailey’s EURweb ·