the new fashion of the moment

Let’s make a bet: would you be able to stay an evening without a smartphone in exchange for a bottle of wine? This is what has been happening this spring in Verona in the wake of a trend coming from overseas. Here then to the restaurant At the condominium, if you decide to put aside chats, social media, emails, notifications by placing your mobile phone in a special letterbox, you will be given a bottle as a gift. One per couple, one for every four people for groups. A true here’s to digital detox! However, at the Condominium it is not the only place where you are asked to temporarily forget about technology to return to focusing on what you are drinking and eating, on the company, on the chatter, on the atmosphere. Indeed we are telling a movement we will hear more and more aboutbut let’s see what happens in the world and in Italy in the meantime.

Disconnected cafes

Like many stories about news and fashions, this one also began in New York in digitally distant times. Yes why The Wall Street Journal he wrote about it already in 2009 and then Instagram didn’t yet exist, let alone TikTok. At the time the metropolis was invaded by freelancers looking for a Wi-Fi connection and an electrical outlet and the small coffee shops, the independent cafés, soon started to show signs of tiredness. Cables everywhere that slowed down service, tables occupied for hours in exchange for a simple (and cheap) cappuccino that never ended. Then yes, there were those who said they had high intentions, that they had dreamed of the business as a place for socializing but perhaps it was the economic aspect that triggered the disconnection. No more Wi-Fi then, at most for a few hours on certain days. And so it happened in other American cities. A risky choice, considering the small neighborhood venues, often threatened by competition from large chains, yet a successful one. The Café Jumping Bean in Chicagofor example, is still alive and well.

Tech free restaurants

And it is also in New York that, a few years ago, the so-called Tech Free restaurants were born where diners are asked to lock up their smartphones for a few hours. This time the problem isn’t computers or cables. It has indeed been noted that those who eat while constantly looking at their phone remain seated at the table for about 30 minutes longer. And then the notifications distract the tasting, while the photos risk making the food go cold and ruining the chefs’ creations. Here then, in 2018 the Hearth restaurant in the East Village he launched the proposal of boxes on the various tables where diners were invited to place their cell phones.

Others opted for the creation of dedicated areas, where it was possible to make calls and check emails and there are those who instead chose a complete ban, like the ramen temple Debuchan in Tokyo. A little too much? Well it is certainly easier and more pleasant to resist temptation with an incentive. Here then the idea of ​​the free bottle or a discount, as they had wanted years ago Bedivere Eatery & Tavern of Beirut or the English restaurant Spice Fusion. A proposal that is still very current, similar to the one recently adopted by the restaurant The Separate 1968 of Marina di Cecina (Li). They call it “Let’s talk again” and it is the initiative that invites couples to put their digital life temporarily on stand-by in exchange for a 20 euro voucher to be used on the next visit.

Reading party

At the Al Condominio restaurant in Verona, more Millenials, those born between 1981 and 1996, than over 45s accepted the challenge of a Tech Free evening. Interesting aspect if we think that even the fashion that is spreading in the Big Apple, that of Reading Party, is the work of four twenty-year-olds. Ben Bradbury, Charlotte Jackson, John Lifrieri and Tom Worcester, worried about no longer being able to read books as before due to poor attention and the temptations deriving from the smartphone, have created an unexpectedly successful format. As? In spring 2023 they invited friends. Everyone had to bring a volume, read a chapter or two in silence and then talk about it with those next to them, while sipping something. Not a classic book club therefore because the objective was not to delve into a single text but to have an excuse to carve out time and socialise, letting books, and not technology, connect people. A success! The evenings took the name of “Reading Rhythms” and quickly moved on to gather from 10 to over 100 participants, moving from the roof of the building of two of the creators to pubs, art galleries, parks and trendy clubs. And within a few months the literary festivals have spread to other areas of the world, from Los Angeles to Croatia to Italy.

Tech free initiatives in Italy

The desire to reconnect through books, chats and a few drinks could not fail to land in our country, the convivial land par excellence. Here the book influencers Giulia and Gaia have combined efforts in the project “Traveling with books” with the aim of creating literary-themed events, including Reading Party in Milan, in the form of the very Italian aperitif.

In Romagna, cocktails and wine give way to herbal teas at the literary parties of Richard Romagnoli, author, coach and creator of Happygenetica methodwhile further south, and precisely in Bari, is the Bandelle Collective to organize them in a multidisciplinary way. Like the one on June 5th which magically combines books, tarot cards, cocktails and music at the Caffè Portineria.

And then the Roman scene, animated by the traveling book club Urban Book Club and by the authors Maura Gancitano and Andrea Colamedici with their Tlon cultural dissemination project which, in reality, does not only concern the capital. The 2024 season of their literary parties, in collaboration with Robinsonthe cultural insert of Republicin fact it started in Milan in April, and then touched Monza, Bologna, Rome (precisely), Turin, Saviore dell’Adamello (Bs), Alcamo (Tp), Cesena, Brescia, Padua, Naples, Caserta and finally ( for now) in Portici (Na) on June 1st.

How was this possible? With the creation of a Telegram group that allowed people to put on these special events under the wing of Tlon. Nobody, therefore, wants to demonize technology, not even the four founders of the New York phenomenon, who still use social media to make their activities known. We only ask you to limit it to when necessary and take back control of your time.

The offline club

This roundup of opportunities and ideas to reconnect with the real world could not help but snoop around what is happening with our Dutch “cousins”. In Amsterdam, in fact, three other twenty-year-olds founded The Offline Club, the refuge for those who want to go back to socializing and want to snatch moments of everyday life from the screens. It all started with small get-togethers but exploded in a short time: the Instagram account showing these digital detox experiences reached 150 thousand followers in less than six weeks.

Unlike literary parties, there is nothing organised. The Offline Club’s pop-up events are hosted from time to time by different venues and participants can read a book, but also draw, knit, study (without a computer of course) or simply chat with a cup of coffee in their hands instead of the smartphone. Nothing simpler, but an experience full of benefits. The founders, in fact, maintain that a similar afternoon or evening increases creativity and productivity, decreases stress, allows you to meet more people and create more spontaneous and real interactions. While waiting for the next literary party we can also try it at home or on holiday: for an hour we close the phone in a drawer and enjoy a beautiful view, a book or a glass of wine, sipped slowly in company. So, is the Tech Free toast supposed to make us feel better?

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