Our story
The story could have begun like all the others. A local guy leaves, travels, gathers knowledge. London, Barcelona, Ibiza. France, the Netherlands, Belgium for years. Even the Veneto region.
Then comes the return: the studied, well-reasoned kind, complete with a business plan, a vision, and a mission statement. The kind that, if told well, becomes an "inspirational story" with black-and-white slideshow photos that create that "cosmopolitan mood."
But that’s not how it went.
Ennio returned a bit by chance, just like the stories worth telling eventually do. There was no "I'm meant to build it here!" moment.
More honestly, it was a "Wait, why not here?". And amidst all that, Calascibetta (691 meters up, maybe four thousand souls, one of Italy's "Most Beautiful Villages" for those who didn't know) became a choice.
Not a compromise. A choice.
Ochianu opened on April 17, 2022. It was Easter Sunday, but purely by coincidence: no cosmic plan, no symbolism. It was just the day chosen, and that was that.
(Though, let’s be honest, it sounds great in the story...)
Ochianu is a fusion of the Sicilian "o chianu." It means "in the square." Because we are in the square, literally. In one of the largest squares in Sicily, with the fountain, the view, and people passing by or stopping for a while. The square has always been a great equalizer: everyone passes through, anyone can be there, no permission required.
Historically, it’s where revolutions started and where people gossiped. Not such different functions, really.
Some say that to do great things, you have to compromise with city traffic and northern fog. Apparently, we only need to deal with the fog. And at this altitude, the fog arrives often and settles in; so even that, at the end of the day, is taken care of.
Calascibetta was a choice for us, but it isn't a place you just pass through.
Not usually, at least.
Sometimes people do: an improvised detour between Catania and Palermo, a medieval village seen from the highway that seems worth the turn.
Ochianu, however, is not a place you just pass by.
Not usually, at least.
You choose Ochianu. You seek it out, or you end up here because you’re already in Calascibetta. But in any case, there’s a specific reason. Or a lucky Google search.
(But if you’re reading these words, it’s because you’ve already made that choice or are currently considering it.)
We’ll keep staying right here: chianu chianu.
We make cocktails, food, and occasionally, some noise.
The village
Quasi equidistante dai tre mari che circondano la Sicilia, a pochissimi chilometri da Enna, al centro esatto di un'isola che la maggior parte delle persone attraversa in orizzontale, verso le coste.
Il nome viene dall'arabo qalʿat xibet: castello sulla vetta.
Il borgo sorge sul Monte Xibet, nei Monti Erei, ed è uno dei Borghi più belli d'Italia — cosa che, tra le persone che ci vivono, provoca reazioni variabili.
Ci abitavano già nell'età del bronzo, come testimoniano le necropoli della Calcarella e di Realmese. Poi arrivano gli arabi, i normanni, i cappuccini, i carmelitani, una comunità ebraica. Persino Goethe, che si ferma a guardare le rocce piene di grotte e lo scrive nei Viaggi in Italia.
Questo posto è abituato a ricevere gente da fuori, da sempre.
Sa come accoglierle, da sempre.
E noi stiamo in piazza, che è una delle più grandi della Sicilia.
Da qui partono tutte le storie di questo paese, da sempre.
Compresa quella di Ochianu.
Philosophy
Apriamo con il motto perché è, letteralmente, il primo principio.
Non l'abbiamo neanche scelto con la maniacale attenzione di un’agenzia di comunicazione. L’abbiamo scelto perché è un modo di viversi la vita che ogni siciliano conosce, in un modo o nell’altro, da tutta una vita.
In siciliano "vivi" vuol dire "bevi".
Quindi la prima lettura (quella immediata, quella di chi il dialetto lo respira) è semplice: bevi, mangia, e non pensarci.
"Futtitinni" è proprio questo: un modo diretto, colorito, veracemente siciliano per dire lascia stare, non te ne preoccupare e rilassati. È un atteggiamento naturale: prendere le cose (quelle che non si possono cambiare, soprattutto) con il giusto peso. Che di solito è quasi zero.
C'è anche una seconda lettura, però.
Chi il siciliano non lo parla di solito legge "Vivi" come vivere. E va bene comunque: anzi, va benissimo.
Il punto, in entrambe le letture, è lo stesso: per potersi davvero godere il momento e futtirisinni, si deve stare in un posto dove le preoccupazioni possono essere lasciate alle spalle.
Infatti per molti Ochianu è:
È una parola che torna spesso, nelle chiacchiere al bancone, nelle conversazioni a tarda notte, e non l'abbiamo scritta noi da nessuna parte: casa.
Non è un caso. Quando torni (e qui tornano, spesso) qualcuno si ricorda sempre cosa bevi, ti chiede com’è andata qualcosa che avevi raccontato loro giorni prima, trova sempre qualche minuto per poter conversare.
E funziona anche al contrario: a furia di passare di qua, anche le facce dietro al bancone diventano facce conosciute. Non più "quelli del bar", ma persone con cui scambiare due parole vere, ogni volta.
La piazza fuori è sempre la stessa. I volti, più o meno, anche.
Ma c'è una cosa che, pur restando fisicamente al suo posto, non sta mai davvero ferma:
Non vi raccontiamo il rito del drink, perché qui non c'è nessun rito.
C'è qualcuno che ha imparato il mestiere girando banconi per anni, in posti dove le cose si fanno bene veramente.
Quella roba, una volta imparata, non te la togli più: stesse dosi, stessa manualità, stessa attenzione; che siate l'unico tavolo del martedì o che il locale sia pieno e la musica più alta.
In cucina vale la stessa regola. Materia prima del territorio, tecniche semplici ma mai banali, piatti che non sono gourmet ma finisce sempre che sono meglio.
Non è magia. È solo lavoro fatto come si deve, abbastanza spesso da sembrare facile.
Tutto lo sforzo resta da questa parte del bancone.
Dall'altra parte, a voi, non resta che viverlo:
Vivi, Mangia & Futtitinni.
The people
Ennio is a restaurateur and entrepreneur.
Put like that, it’s a bit too neat for someone who spends his nights behind the bar and on the floor, and his mornings balancing spreadsheets with suppliers—but it’s the label that holds it all together without any fuss.
Born in Calascibetta in 1991, he decided that to do big things, you could easily start in your own backyard. He traveled half of Europe (working in top-tier bars and opening a couple of significant ones in Brussels) before returning to Sicily. Before Ochianu, he did what every bartender does when they start out: serving drinks, polishing glasses, and listening to people’s problems on someone else’s behalf. Now, he still listens to people’s problems, but at least the place is his own.
In between, there is the real work. Crafting cocktail recipes by inventing flavor pairings that challenge the palate, hosting events, masterclasses, and projects that never stop. The launch of "The Cocktail Experience" in Italy in 2020 proves it: the first high-level cocktail catering service in the center of the island—a rather crazy idea for those who think such experiences only exist in big metropolises.
Then came Ochianu in 2022 with a single obsession: you don’t need to move to Milan or London to cultivate the culture of fine drinking. Bringing excellent mixology to the Sicilian hinterland is just one way to shake things up.
He built a company in the heart of Sicily without a real instruction manual. There was a clear vision, hands-on hard work, and the ability not to lose heart when things needed to be shaken up.
He mixes spirits, ideas, and the interior of Ochianu, welcoming people both at the bar and across Sicily. Every single night. Never stopping to make drinks, great food, and occasionally, a bit of noise.
Claudio Longhitano handles communication. It’s not a particularly precise answer, but it’s the one that holds everything together without lying too much.
Born in Leonforte—twenty minutes from Calascibetta, so he technically counts as a local—he holds a degree in International Relations from Turin and is a dropout of a master’s program in public and political communication, with just the right amount of regret and relief. Before Ochianu, he wrote speeches for others and handled boring tasks for someone else. Now he still does boring tasks, but at least they’re his own.
In between, he writes. Articles like this one, copy, analyses of communication campaigns nobody officially asked him to do, and something longer that almost never quite ends. A novel started in 2015 is proof of this—which is a fairly glacial pace even for someone who makes a habit of not finishing things.
He has been managing Ochianu’s communication since April 2022. Over time, he has developed the firm conviction (verified, at least in part) that small places contain big stories, and that telling them well is, in itself, a political act.
He has also developed an embarrassing familiarity with semiotics, behavioral economics, and the theory of consumption rituals: all things that sound less useful than they actually are when you’re managing the communication for an aperitivo or a small gig in the province of Enna.
He built this site without knowing how to code, which is one of those phrases that sounds more impressive than it is. He had good tools at his disposal and asked the right questions. As almost always, that’s what counts.
He writes about communication, language, and marketing on The Ochianu Files, his Substack newsletter. Every now and then. When he doesn't forget.
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