"A spritz, please". The bartender’s hands touch the bottle of prosecco in the fridge, unscrew the cap of the Aperol, put some ice in the glass, complete everything with a slice of orange. Familiar gestures, imprinted in the mind, that anticipate moments of conviviality. Well, now imagine that the bartender with a hipster mustache and a plaid shirt turns into an orange robotic arm with chrome joints and a clamp holding a glass. If you are viewing it, you are not dreaming, you are in Turin and you have entered Shaker, the first robotic bar in Italy.
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Toni Compatto, this is the name of the mechanical arm, is the son of the Turin start-up Makr Shakr, born to "assist members of human staff" and "facilitate their workflow". Conceived at the Murazzi, on the banks of the Po river, moved for a while on the terraces of Piazza Duomo in Milan, the start-up has returned home a few weeks ago. A few steps from the Faculty of Mathematics and Palazzo Carignano, seat of the first Italian parliament, Shaker is located in the center of Turin, embodying the change of the city: industry and technology are placed at the service of catering and of the increasing number of tourists. Intrigued by Toni, many enter to try his cocktails, looking for the perfect reel to post.
The proposal of Shaker ranges from coffee to the classics of mixology, without forgetting the audience that increasingly decides to drink non-alcoholic drinks. After ordering from a tablet, Toni Compatto gets to work: the robotic arm grabs a glass, takes the right amount of ingredients from a row of bottles hanging upside down on the ceiling, shakes when needed and hands the glass to the customer. To the human, the task of completing where a straw is needed, where a slice of lime, but above all has time to focus on people, on the barman-consumer relationship, as fundamental as the skills of flair bartending.
While the reel is being filmed, I see people’s thoughts: are we facing the sci-fi man-machine replacement? Is this technology going to take jobs?
To date, nothing more distant: Alessandro Vaira, bar manager of Shaker, explains that Toni Compatto doesn't replace a worker, supports him. In fact, there are five (human) colleagues employed in the restaurant that, given the presence of the robot, can work at a more moderate pace (rarities in the catering sector) and focus on the customer.
Is Shaker the forerunner of a restaurant revolution? Time will tell; to date Toni Compatto is more than promoted, cocktails speak for themselves: perfectly balanced ice and spritz away from the danger of watering. The right prerequisite for great success, it’s obvious.
Illustration by Gloria Dozio - Acrimònia Studios
Images by Federico Ingemi
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