Interview with CARME and JOSEP from Summum Vilanova
How are you, Carme, how are you?
Carmen: Well, very good!
During the interview you told me that we are going to have a glass of wine, right?
C: Yes, a Priorat.
It is one of the products you have at Summum…
C: Yes. It is a young wine that enters very well now at noon.
You – Carme and Josep – are also young. And you’re from Maresme, aren’t you?
C: Josep did. I’m from Barcelona.
And what are you doing in Vilanova?
C: We have always been linked to it. We had a second home in Cunit and for many years we had come to dinners or parties in Vilanova. We like it a lot, because it is a town that is also a city. And when we got pregnant we decided to make a total change of life.
You got to know Vilanova through leisure, you loved it and you have decided to come and live there. Not?
C: Yes. We feel Vilanova by adoption. We spend our whole lives here, our daughter goes to a school here… we live in Cunit -the former second residence- , but we are fully integrated in Vilanova.
And before creating Summum, what did you do?
Josep: I am a draughtsman and I spent many years doing line drawing. But we have both always loved the world of catering. And when we had the girl, we decided that we had to make a change and dedicate ourselves to a job that we really liked. To be happy doing what we were really passionate about.
But you, Carme, were dedicated to catering, weren’t you?
C: No, I worked as a commercial administrator for an international transport company. But my grandparents do have a restaurant in Barcelona and I have been quite linked to this world.
Did you both have jobs when you decided to make this life change?
C: We were stagnant professionally. We couldn’t go any higher. It was either stay that way forever or change.
You’ve risked everything…
J: Yes, after 20 years at work, I left. The family couldn’t believe it.
We are talking about you leaving your job in the middle of the economic crisis!
C: It was a very bad time.
J: Yes, four years ago. It was only fair that our daughter was born and we began to consider change.
As you said before: the family climbed the walls!
J: Imagine! We lived in Mataró. The girl was the only granddaughter, my parents there, my sister there,… It was a drama. “How are you out of work now and take your granddaughter down there?” they told us. But we were very clear about it.
Were you very clear that what you wanted to set up was what is now Summum?
C: Yes, we really liked the idea and also coming to Vilanova.
And how did you get inspired by this type of business?
C: Everything you see (in Summum) has been decided by us. We had everything quite clear.
But have you seen a similar establishment in any other city or country?
J: We have travelled around and taken ideas from other places and countries, such as France or Andorra. But what you can find in Summum was what we wanted from the beginning. We were clear that we did not want to make a restaurant, but a gastronomic space of cheeses, foie gras and wine.
Before coming to work here, you knew Vilanova d’oci. Now you know Vilanova as a consumer. Happy with the response of the people?
J: Very happy. It is true that at the beginning there were people who asked us if we were from Vilanova and that if we were not from here we had nothing to do. We were very surprised that they told us that. In larger cities, such as Mataró or Barcelona, these things do not happen.
C: These are things that go beyond the beginning. But then you see that people are coming, that one customer brings you another,… Our daughter has also helped us a lot to integrate.
Are you thinking of changing cities?
Josep: No. We’re not going to leave here. Vilanova is a town that is on its way to being a city, but that still maintains its traditions. It’s one of the things we like the most.
With Summum, have you fulfilled your dream?
We are complying with it. Little by little.
MORE CUSTOMER INTERVIEWS: https://www.gestingral.com/category/entrevistes-socials-a-vilanova-i-la-geltru/
