The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella in Monza attended the inauguration of PizzAut, the pizzeria where autistic people work, which is opening its second location after the one in Cassina de’ Pecchi. “This is a compliment to me because I’m one of you. Thank you,” Mattarella said. In fact, the boys sang to him several times the chorus “Mattarella one of us”. A phrase that is also written on the apron they gave him.
“I would like to thank Nico Acampora because what he dreamed and intuited he created while everyone thought it impossible and far-fetched, but now it is reality,” said Mattarella. “This is a place not only of example but of normality because you work as everyone does – he added -. Each person has his own way of expressing himself, of realizing himself, of experiencing a sensitivity, no one is the same as another so it means that everyone they must have the opportunity to be able to express themselves and realize”.
The president visited the kitchens and was shown the peculiarities of this restaurant, how it functions differently from the others, given that, for example, there are no edges, so that the kids can work in absolute safety. Once he left the kitchen, the president was greeted by a big applause from all the staff and people in the room, then six sat at the table and the greeting started, “president you are one of us”. At the table, the wine served to the president comes from land confiscated from organized crime, like other products for pizzas, buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. The boy who served Mattarella the wine chatted with him for a bit and then said, “all right, now I’ll let you eat”. Sergio Mattarella smiled gently at him.
The unveiling is held on World Autism Awareness Day.
There is also the singer Elio, from the group Elio e le Storie tese, together with his autistic son Dante at the inauguration lunch. Mattarella said goodbye to Elio and his son and the three talked a bit. The singer said the president did a great thing to be here today. Dante wears a sweatshirt with the Pokemon Pikachu and the president told him: “Pikachu is a good choice, Dante”. All the boys were more or less introduced to the President of the Republic. Among them also Simone, who graduated a few days ago in Economics and Commerce.
ANSA Agency
Dante Belisari takes the stage at the Concertozzo in Bergamo (ANSA)
At lunch Mattarella ate the pizza created for the occasion and dedicated to the Constitution made especially for him by autistic kids. The pizza is called Article 1 “Italy is a democratic republic also founded on our work”. The products with which the president’s pizza is made come from Libera’s land confiscated from organized crime. Before the pizza, Mattarella ate the appetizers, fried dumplings and cold cuts.
One of the guys from PizzAut, Lorenzo, had an exchange with Mattarella, who has the ability to tell which day of the week each date corresponds to. And so Lorenzo explained to the Head of State that “July 23, 1941 was Wednesday”. And then he turned to the founder of PizzAut Nico Acampora telling him that he had looked for the date “on wikipedia”. Then the mayor of Monza Paolo Pilotto asked what day it was when he was elected, and other dates from different years followed which Lorenzo all remembered exactly. “Thank you. You told me something I didn’t know – the Head of State thanked him – I didn’t know what my birthday was”.
After the blessing and the ribbon cutting, an autistic boy named Andrea, one of the waiters with a passion for music, paid homage to President Mattarella by playing the anthem of the European Union, the Ode to Joy, on the violin. “President here are all my guys lined up and we thought we’d pay you a tribute – explained Nico Acampora, the founder of PizzAut -. There’s an autistic boy, Andrea, who learned to read music in a few months. Now he plays the violin and has a permanent contract, he works”. At the end of the performance Mattarella applauded, shook hands with the boy saying: “Bravo”.
Andrea played the Ode to Joy on the violin
On the occasion of the inauguration, two autistic boys will sign an employment contract. One of these is 18-year-old Beatrice Tassone, who was hired by Coop Lombardia and will be seconded to PizzAut, and for the occasion she has created a portrait of the President of the Republic, which she will deliver to him. Beatrice suffers from autistic syndrome and is also an albino, therefore visually impaired. Despite this, she has a very strong talent for drawing and is passionate about Japanese manga, so much so that she has created a comic to tell everyone about autism together with Coop Lombardia. “I’m very excited for today because working here will be one more step towards independence – she explained to journalists -, because having a job and being able to contribute to being more independent is important. I haven’t had experience in this field yet but I’m doing a course”.