📸: Lucio Andreozzi Foto // @lucioandreozzifoto
While most of us spent summers on the coast of Southern New England, siblings Lucio Andreozzi and Alessandra Pallozzi vacationed on the coast of Italy. Their father immigrated at age twenty-eight to marry their mother who he met in Italy, so to relieve those memories, the family made trips back to their home country to keep the heritage alive and proud.
Fast forward to present day: Pallozzi has been a bartender for fifteen years and Andreozzi is a marketing guru. Pallozzi makes a great drink and while the idea to open her own bar was always a thought, Andreozzi teamed up to make the vision come to life.
The idea: Create an Italian luxury mobile bar that transports you back in time to coastal Italy, just like their childhood summers. They found a 1991 Piaggio Ape from a company in the Carolinas that imports the bug-like vehicles from Italy, stripped it and redesigned from scratch. Piaggio Apes have been used for decades to transport goods down the narrow cobblestone streets.
“I have been obsessed with this car forever,” Andreozzi says. “There are old family photos and home videos of me posing next to them [in Italy].”
Standing at just five feet wide, ten feet long and six feet tall, the mobile cocktail bar was born to shape Bevi e Vivi, meaning to “drink and live” in Italian.
Small but mighty, “just like a little worker bee,” says Andreozzi, the car can serve large events up to 500 people. It is transported in a trailer while the bartenders drive separately, as the driver’s seat is just wide enough to hold Pallozzi and her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Don’t underestimate its size, however: It has five taps that can be customized with any drink.
“It’s just as good as a larger truck but with more vintage character and European charm,” Andreozzi says.
Another advantage of the smaller size is that the car can fit indoors, bringing the beverages right to you.
Pallozzi taps the kegs with her own custom cocktails, including non-alcoholic beverages such as mocktails, soft drinks and even iced coffee, great for baby showers and events with children. She caters to each client, matching the theme or mood board to make sure her drinks are custom and personal. All cocktails are her own original recipes and she outsources to local companies for juices and syrups. Nothing goes to waste here as she tries to make exact amounts of drinks for each event. Since the alcohol is purchased through the client, whatever is leftover is theirs to keep! Pallozzi empties out her kegs into pitchers for the clients to take home so she can reset her cart for the next event.
While it’s not a serve yourself bar, TIPS-certified bartenders are happy to pour you a drink (or two) to let you enjoy the nostalgia and resonate the experience of your own European trips.
If you thought it couldn’t be more touching and close to family, think again. The car launched on the siblings’ grandmother’s birthday, Sept. 15, 2022, paying homage to their family roots and the inspiration behind their business.
Since launch, they have booked the entire summer and are even looking into weddings in 2025. In the future, look out for more trucks in their fleet as they grow and share the Italian coastal love with more of New England.
Instagram: @bevievivi | bevievivi.com