Elio e le Storie Tese Concert Transformed into “À La Carte” Model: Audience Chooses Setlist Like a Menu

In a concert hall, "making a selection from the menu" usually pertains to food and drinks. However, Elio e le Storie Tese has directly transformed the menu into a repertoire for their summer tour in 2026.

In the tour named Tour À La Carte, the setlist for each concert is not predetermined. Audience members enter the page for the concert they will attend and choose 15 songs from the options provided. As a result of the votes, a different "musical menu" emerges for each city. The band then serves this menu on stage.

As highlighted in Gambero Rosso's news article dated August 25, 2026, the gastronomic metaphor does not stop there. The band wears chef jackets on stage; the concert is likened to a restaurant service, and the musicians are compared to kitchen brigades. Elio is interpreted in humorous roles like "chef de cuisine," and Faso as "sous chef."

It should be noted from the outset that this is not a real restaurant or chef project. Gastronomy here serves as the creative language of the show. However, for this reason, the project is interesting for HORECA businesses: it presents an event model that uses the logic of a menu for selection, participation, and experience design.

Customer experience begins before the event starts

The strongest aspect of Tour À La Carte is that the audience initiates their concert experience before the event day.

As emphasized in ANSA's news about the tour, the audience does not merely remain passive participants watching the concert; they contribute to the creation of the repertoire. Thus, the experience begins at the stage of song selection and culminates on the concert night.

Similar applications can be implemented in restaurant management.

Having customers choose from several options in advance for a tasting menu, shaping the event menu through participant voting, or creating a limited-time cocktail menu through community selections can all benefit from the same behavioral logic.

The goal here is not to produce a completely separate product for each customer. A more applicable model is to give customers the right to decide from a controlled pool of options.

Elio e le Storie Tese does not leave hundreds of songs open-ended to the audience. The band allows selections from a predetermined repertoire. This distinction is critical from a management perspective: personalization increases while operational control is not lost.

Why does the “À la carte” metaphor work?

In the à la carte restaurant model, the customer creates their selection from the products on the menu instead of following a fixed tasting route.

The fundamental structure of the tour directly mimics this mechanism.

Therefore, the gastronomic reference is not merely limited to stage costumes. The concepts of menu, order, service, and brigade are all tied to the structure of the show. Gambero Rosso also points out that the band humorously plays with the contemporary "star chef" culture and the popular image surrounding cooking shows.

This situation also reflects the place of gastronomy in popular culture.

The chef's jacket, concepts like "tasting," "à la carte," "brigade," or "service" have become understandable to a wide audience without needing further explanation, indicating that the professional kitchen language has now extended far beyond restaurant boundaries.

The figure of the chef has transformed into a character of popular culture today, appearing in television, social media, festivals, and brand campaigns.

However, this visibility should not be confused with the actual working conditions of industry employees. The "brigade" on stage is an entertaining metaphor; in a real kitchen, the brigade system means division of labor, responsibility, training, and intense service pressure.

Different repertoire in each city, different experience for each customer

The tour started on July 3 in Bergamo and moved to different Italian cities throughout the summer. Rai News confirmed that the band appeared on stage in chef outfits during the Bologna concert and that different programs were implemented according to audience selection in each city.

As of August 27, 2026, the tour is not completely over. The current schedule from the organizer International Music and Arts includes dates in Vicenza on September 3, Reggio Emilia on September 11, and Rimini on September 12.

One of the important aspects of the model is its repeatability.

In standard concert tours, largely the same repertoire is used in different cities. Tour À La Carte creates city-based variability in content while maintaining the core production.

Restaurant chains also seek a similar balance: providing limited flexibility based on location, season, or customer profile while maintaining brand standards.

Having a 100% identical central menu can facilitate operations but may complicate local connections. A menu that is completely location-specific can increase purchasing and training complexities.

Controlled personalization is one of the models that can work between these two extremes.

The gastronomic connection is not limited to the stage metaphor

The relationship between Elio e le Storie Tese and the food and beverage world in the 2026 tour is not just about costumes and wordplay.

The food area of the Concertozzo 2026 event organized by the band that same year was managed by the restaurant project PizzAut, which supports the inclusion of individuals with autism in the workforce. The band's official program states that PizzAut has been involved in the project since 2022.

Concertozzo and Tour À La Carte are not the same event. This distinction is important.

However, it is noteworthy that both projects intersect with the food world at different points within the same year. While Tour À La Carte uses gastronomy as a stage language, Concertozzo transforms food and beverage service into one of the real operational areas of social inclusion.

According to the band's statement, over 10,000 participants attended the 2025 Concertozzo, and 50,000 euros were transferred to PizzAut. These are figures disclosed by the organizer; they should be considered as company/organization statements rather than independent audit data.

What can restaurants learn from this model?

The part of Tour À La Carte that can be directly transferred to the restaurant sector is not music or costumes.

The main idea is how much the customer can be involved in the product creation process.

For example, a restaurant could have loyalty members vote on two products that will enter a seasonal menu. A cocktail bar could let customers choose an old drink that will return in the new season. A hotel could determine specific garnish or dessert options in the menu with participants before a special event.

However, the boundaries of customer participation must be clear.

A system where the customer determines every variable can disrupt purchasing, mise en place, recipe standards, and cost control from a kitchen perspective. The most applicable method is to have the business operationally prepare limited options for customers to choose from.

Tour À La Carte does exactly that: it offers a sense of freedom while the production team controls the universe of options.

The data aspect also holds value

The songs that participants voted for before the concert provide the band with preference data on a city basis.

A similar mechanism in restaurants could create a more commercial counterpart.

When a business's customers vote on which product they want to see return for the next season, this is not merely a social media interaction. It can create early demand signals for product development.

However, voting does not equate to actual purchasing behavior.

A product may receive thousands of votes on social media but show low sales when it enters the menu. Therefore, the data from customer participation should be evaluated alongside POS sales, reorder rates, and product profitability.

According to Stafflink

The strongest idea that Tour À La Carte offers to the restaurant sector is the difference between “listening to the customer” and “giving the customer controlled decision rights.”

Many brands conduct surveys, collect feedback, and ask questions on social media. However, seeing that the response given by the customer translates into a real product or experience can create a stronger loyalty.

In our view, this approach can be particularly applied in restaurants for loyalty programs, limited-time products, and event menus. However, the operations team must be involved from the very beginning of the process. A product that the marketing department gives the customer the right to choose may create operational problems in the kitchen if it is not realistic.

The model of Tour À La Carte is balanced in this regard: the audience creates the menu, but the options within the menu are determined by the band.

In restaurants, the key to good personalization is not unlimited options. It is to give customers meaningful choices within the right boundaries.

Another lesson is about the timing of the experience's beginning. The experience does not start when the customer sits at the restaurant table, but at the moment they make a reservation or begin to review the menu.

If businesses utilize this time well, pre-visit communication can transform from merely a reservation reminder to the first service of the experience.