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Caputo Trattoria E Vino
Themed Restaurant
Buongiorno Babbalucci to the Caputo Trattoria E Vino, a family tradition, snail-owned
Italian restaurant!
The Caputo family welcomes you to enjoy traditional Italian cuisine in their newly renovated restaurant. In the mood for a drink? Head over to the Caputo Trattoria Vino, an adjacent winery that offers live Snail-cilian music and beverages. If you’re looking for a plate of pasta, look no further than our main dining experience, a calming, family-friendly dinner service with absolutely no danger! Or so you think?
What we don’t know is that the Caputo Trattoria is a front for the Snail-cilian Mafia! And I heard tonight there’s been some suspicious activity from one of the rivaling snail groups, the Rovinas, perhaps an attack on the restaurant for Nonna Maria’s secret recipes.
Will you be able to fight off the Rovinas’ to preserve the Caputo legacy?
Skills Used:
Procreate, SketchUp, AutoCAD, Enscape
Spatial Planning
Ideation and Execution
The Caputo Trattoria E Vino is separated into two experiences; an indoor family-style restaurant with a mid-dinner interruption that requires guest participation to fight off the opposing mafia, and a simulated outdoor snail-sized winery with a calmer approach; here you will find a live animatronic Snail band playing traditional Sicilian music, and a large bar offering a wide variety of wines and other adult beverages. To enhance the adventurous experience found in the main building, technology like projections, LED screens, animatic props, enlarged snail-scale items, and story-driven service help to immerse you in this Italian eatery and its story.
Story Dev.
Reference & Concept
Originally owned by Nonna Maria Caputo, a Sicilian immigrant to San Diego, every recipe at Caputo Trattoria is a dish passed down through generations and made with love. Three years ago, Nonna Maria passed away, and in her will, she left her legacy, earnings, and her prized restaurant to her eldest son, Uncle Nino, secretly a mobster in the Snail-cillian Mafia. With these new assets, Uncle Nino hopes to expand his personal “business” while preserving his mother’s cherished legacy.
While searching for a new location, Uncle Nino stumbled upon an abandoned Italian picnic basket in the park, soon to become the new home of Caputo Trattoria e Vino. As the Caputo family begins to prosper in this newly claimed territory, a rival gang, the Rovinas, native snails of the San Diego area, begins plotting an attack. Their goal: steal the Caputos’ famous recipes and drive them out for good. Unbeknownst to guests, the night of their dining experience happens to be the very night the attack is set to unfold.
Immersive Media
Mid-dinner Interruption
The mid-dinner interruption occurs every half hour. About ten minutes before the attack, a subtle buildup of tension begins as members of the Snail-cilian Mafia can be seen sneaking toward the “kitchen,” preparing for the inevitable confrontation.
At the half-hour mark, Big Tony makes his dramatic entrance—appearing as a backlit projection on the olive oil bottle. He begins attacking Nonna’s Shrine using compressed air blasts and projection mapping effects. During the chaos, it is revealed that behind Nonna’s portrait lies a hidden safe containing the Caputo family’s secret recipe.
Just when all seems lost, Uncle Nino pops out of the salt shaker as a backlit projection, calling on the restaurant’s guests to help defend the Caputo family and drive out the Rovinas. In an epic finale, the entire dining room raises their breadsticks in “attack mode,” helping chase the Rovinas away and earning the title of honorary Caputos.
