Alessandro Vitiello: an embrace called “Moon Open”

Alessandro Vitiello, the bartender who inspired the creation of CIAM's new Moon Open station, tells us his story: one tied to a true friendship and a project that brought together multiple protagonists and professionals to create a revolutionary product for the world of mixology.

A station designed to make bartending accessible to all, its recent installation at the "Donna Clelia" restaurant and lounge bar in Praiano represents the final chapter in a story where empathy and innovation were the key words. A story that began with a dream and is now a reality.

Awards, recognitions, trade fairs, and prestigious collaborations: Moon Open seems to be in the mixology spotlight. What does Alessandro Vitiello think?

I think it deserves all the attention in the world because, as far as I'm concerned, it has fulfilled a dream I've been waiting to experience for four years. For this, I can only thank CIAM and Bruno Vanzan, who made it possible. The latter is my professional and human inspiration, the role model I look up to: he was the one who brought the idea to CIAM to create a station for chair-based bartenders like me.

It all started during an event organized in Cervia to raise funds for my rehabilitation following the accident I suffered and the eleven months in the hospital that followed. At that time, Bruno and I were supposed to work together, but it quickly became clear that the available stations wouldn't allow it. Of course, we didn't lose heart, and with two tables we improvised our "special" stations.

That night, something ignited between us: a promise, a silent pact, something that took shape when a year and a half later, Bruno contacted me, sending me a photo of a cardboard cutout of a station, and inviting me to visit the CIAM headquarters in Umbria. A unique experience: a young professional like me in the presence of a leading brand in the sector!

I already knew CIAM's level of excellence was high, but just walking into their headquarters in Petrignano di Assisi and seeing the people smile was enough to understand that together we would create something beautiful and revolutionary. It was a project we carried out month after month, without filters or mutual respect, and where I saw CIAM apply all its knowledge and technical expertise to create a product tailored to those who share my needs.

Tell us about a detail of the Moon Open that makes you particularly proud.

More than proud, it's something that makes me feel safe, that makes me autonomous. It is the ability of the Moon Open platform to rotate 360°, allowing me, consequently, full mobility on all fronts.

People with a disability like mine have partial trunk and arm stability, so they need to feel protected in their movements: they need to be supported at any time and in any action they take. For this reason, the shape of the Moon Open feels to me like an embrace that makes me feel safe, an enclosure inside which I am able to carry out my profession at my best, and to do so naturally.

By the way, how did the inauguration of the Moon Open go, and what surprised you the most about working with it?

Considering that during the evening I served 1,500 drinks all by myself, I would say the station's baptism went great! Beyond the river of cocktails, the event—which took place on June 29th and during which I inaugurated the Moon Open—marked a beginning beyond all expectations.

The fact that I was able to serve such a high number of drinks means not only that the station was the highlight of the evening, but it is also proof of a performance that would have been impossible to achieve without it—in addition to the equally valuable help of a barback. A great success for someone who, like me, believes that true disability lies in the lack of autonomy, in any of its forms. It is when I need others or when my body does not respond to the motor requirements of my job that I feel deprived of something: and it is above all here that Moon Open meets my needs. But I wasn't surprised by this—I already knew the CIAM station—instead, something I never would have expected was that, on this occasion, most people didn't even realize I was working from a wheelchair. One more confirmation of Moon Open's ability to attract people through its innovative design, putting my work at the center rather than my disability.

What future projects could be developed to make Mixology increasingly open?

Constant study and research, like those carried out by the two key figures behind this dream, CIAM and Bruno Vanzan, are fundamental tools for allowing the world of Mixology to evolve in general. But to make it even more open, we must especially consider developing a culture of accessibility in the workplace. Shaping a new mindset, a new approach that ensures business owners in the industry hire a bartender in a wheelchair not out of charity or legal obligation, but to create business opportunities, improve work quality, and drive innovation.

Today—and Moon Open is proof of this—a young professional in a wheelchair like me, used to working on custom-built stations made by himself, can truly express his full potential and skills through tools that give him complete autonomy. And so, it would be a real shame if I and many others remained tied to the past: because it is change—which always begins in our minds—that leads us toward the future.