Fernando Sangiovanni (61 years old) was a painter. He lived with his partner Isabel Lorenzo (59) in Montevideo. Isabel’s father owned a clothing factory. In order to do this, she studied business administration. But… in 2002, an economic crisis left half of Río de la Plata unemployed. “The only hope was the airport,” explains Fernando in the showroom of Sangiovanni, the brand behind many of the wooden containers that triumph on the tables of the world’s most famous restaurants. We are in Santiago de Compostela, but his containers travel to all five continents.
Walnut wooden spoon on charred ashtray. Vicens Gimenez
When they decided to move to this city, they had three children: Joaquín (32 years old), who was 11 years old; Camila (30), who is now a teacher, and Agustín (27 years old), who came to us when he was 5 years old. The latter is just as warm as everyone else in the family. But his tone is different: he has lost the melodic Uruguayan accent.
Charred ash bowl and walnut fork. Vicens Gimenez
Isabel’s story is really one of back and forth. She was born in Carballo, in the province of A Coruña, to Galician parents who returned to Montevideo when she was six months old. That’s why, faced with the crisis, they thought of Galicia to raise their children there. “Any emigration is the most difficult journey, the goal is to start from scratch,” explains Fernando. These zeros were candles. They made them by hand and sold them at craft fair booths. With sales stagnating, they decided to open a pumpkin shop in the center of Santiago.
—Pumpkins?
“It is one of the symbols of the pilgrims. We carved them and emptied them,” Fernando continues. Isabel became a craftswoman. And when even the trades didn’t work: “I ended up as a waitress and Isabel started serving in a house,” he concludes. Isabel is calm but stubborn. He went back to study in Santiago and “even there he couldn’t run a business,” Fernando explains. However, their children were integrated. “It worked for us,” he admits. Today Joaquín, the eldest, feels like he is on both sides of the Atlantic. Agustín, straight Galician. “He also lived in London and Barcelona, but integration depends a lot on the character of each individual,” emphasizes his father.
Alberto brushes a charred piece. After firing, it is wet to stop the heat, brushed to remove the carbon that may come off and then fixed with oil.Vicens Giménez
It was 2015 when the eldest son, Joaquín, completed his carpentry studies. When he couldn’t find work, he worked in a store. “That’s when we realized that none of the three of us were working in what they had studied,” he says. Isabel suggested setting up a workshop: wooden toys, coat racks and cutting boards. “It was a creative job. But low risk. It didn’t open any doors. We didn’t do anything new,” admits Fernando.
In 2017, the Galician Handicrafts Foundation organized a meeting between chefs and artisans in this shop in the center of Santiago. They introduced their tables. “We only had one other model, which we called Desigual because it had eight sides.” This board gave some chefs confidence in their skills. “They asked us for hot sauce containers and… We only had a saw, but we knew there was a gap in the market.”
Hand-carved ash folium panel grinding process. Vicens Gimenez
Javier Olleros from the Culler de Pau (Wooden Spoon) restaurant asked her for it: a wooden spoon. “There were some organoleptic requirements – the flavor or texture couldn’t mix with what he was making – and we got to work,” Fernando continues. “We made them differently and sanded the walnut in a different way. We took it, I tried it… and I rejected it. We tested for six months, but once we did that, we realized that we could apply the same requirement to other containers,” adds Joaquín. “We understood that a spoon used to serve drop peas in one bite should not penetrate the texture or taste of what it is serving. “It was a master.”
Process of charring pieces of ash. Vicens Gimenez
—How do you make the marks on the wood disappear?
“Grinding,” says Joaquín. From this spoon, the Sangiovanni Lorenzos saw other possibilities. “We never said no. It wasn’t profitable as an assignment, but it was profitable as a teaching,” explains Isabel. He illustrates this using the example of wood charring. “We knew it was a Japanese technique from the 16th century. Our challenge was to bring this into the catering industry without contamination.” They achieved this by stopping the heat, removing the excess and fixing what had become dark with cooking oils. “We were innovative. Working in the craft is about creating without limits,” says Fernando.
Small table vase made of walnut wood. Vicens Gimenez
The spoons changed his life. “All chefs go to other restaurants. And the first thing they do when they like a container is turn it over and look for the signature. That’s why we learned that no player can leave here without a signature. “The name is a mess. They are the Sangiovanni family and are also called Lorenzo Design. Fernando admits that they were advised against this double name. But he remains romantic about it: “It’s a homage to our ancestors.” It’s a feeling. Sangiovanni is the hand and Lorenzo is the one who markets it.” Thanks to, or despite, these two heads they have come this far.
Turned, carved and charred ash bowl.Vicens Giménez
Agustín, the youngest son, trained as a senior technician for physical and sports activities. He lived in London and returned to Santiago with Covid. “I had already been at home for three months when they asked me to join the cooperative.” The cooperative is almost a utopia. They all have the same salary. The property is divided between four people and they employ six workers. “Some people earn more than us. It depends on the ability. And the month: Our salary fluctuates. Not theirs.” “As cooperative owners, we have to take risks. As employees, you are entitled to your wages,” explains Isabel.
Agustín was just learning the trade when he noticed how neglected their website was. He focused on improvement, which was essential to the cooperative’s international expansion. With containers in several restaurants in Spain, they opened the showroom where we interviewed them in 2018 on the outskirts of Santiago. And they started working in Europe, the United States and part of Asia. Specifically: Smoke London; Mirazur on the Côte d’Azur, Condividere in Milan, Bambola in Chicago, Casa Dani by Dani García in New York, José Andrés in Washington or The Owo in the Raffles Hotel.
Walnut forks dry after applying food varnish.Vicens Giménez
– Won’t they die of success if everyone has the same thing?
“We create an annual catalog and at the same time work exclusively à la carte for orders. For ethical reasons, we do not sell the same pieces from the catalog to two restaurants within the same city. “It’s a personal choice, a way of taking care of ourselves,” responds Fernando. The orders are small. In haute cuisine there are between 10 and 20 tables. You order between 20 and 40 pieces for a plate.
—How is wood treated so that it lasts a long time?
They use European woods: walnut, oak, ash and cherry. The walnut tree is national. And from Galicia they use chestnuts. Fernando and Joaquín explain that they need time to research each assignment. From Mugaritz they asked for a box that was light and temperature-resistant. They investigated which type of wood gives the aroma. And it turned out to be Canadian cedar. This custom work is part of her job as a tailor: “You explain an idea to us and we have to implement it in wood.”
—Are chefs familiar with wood?
“They know what they want: they define the stakes,” explains Joaquín. “Our job is to propose the wood and finish and calculate the thickness of the edges. And of course do it.” Note that its use is sometimes discouraged. “A wooden glass only has to be for water; it shouldn’t be able to hold wine despite the natural varnish.”
Hand-turned and carved walnut plate with walnut spoon. Vicens Gimenez
The work is completely handmade. They use the numerical control machine only to mark the pieces and give them the name: Sangiovanni. “For people who do it, it’s better to vary,” explains Isabel. They take risks with bold designs that are tests, “like haute couture models,” says Fernando. But there is more. After seeing a fountain in a restaurant, they were ordered furniture. And they have expanded their production to include benches and lamps. The final challenge faced Fernando and was solved by his son Joaquín. “The silent artist of the lathe,” remarks his mother.
This challenge has to do with sustainability and defending a circular economy. They know that restaurants have to constantly change. That’s why the Sangiovanni Lorenzos offer tuning: the repair and preservation of the pieces. Today people are also concerned with tuning: changing an object. “A board can be turned into a plate or spoon. It is something new that is created without accumulating or spending more raw materials.” Isabel shows some old Diverxo boards from which the worn edges have been cut out, supports added and converted into new containers. “Sometimes we advise hydration with wax, sometimes repair and sometimes replacement.” The third part of their circular economy proposal is in the discussion phase with the chefs: they want to rent pieces seasonally. “That they don’t accumulate and that we can recycle them later.”
Wood storage in the workshop.Vicens Giménez
There are 10 in the workshop. And they don’t want to grow. “We realize that not everyone can work here. We share a lot. We have creative ambition: the desire to continually learn. Because when we know how to do something, changes happen for us.” It is Isabel who explains it.
They went out to eat at some of the restaurants where they work. “We have dishes in Dubai – for the new Diverxo – or in Denmark… Selling in a Nordic restaurant is like selling ice cream to the Eskimos,” says Fernando ironically. This has been happening for three years at the Brace restaurant in Copenhagen. In the end, Lorenzo’s Sangiovanni had a good star. More than 200 of his customers have a Michelin star.
Walnut spoons, left and center, are the first they made. The spoon on the right is similar to the ones they make now. Vicens Gimenez
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