These are large countries with wide variations in their regional cuisines. The food you’ll get along the southern Italian coast is going to be different than what you get in landlocked areas near the border with France. But most Americans don’t know where Italy is on a map, much less the different regions that characterize it.

There’s an old joke that says if you speak three languages, you’re polylingual. If you speak two, you’re bilingual. And if you speak one, you’re American.

Dubya’s own lack of curiosity characterizes America, which is why so many restaurants end up being classified as “Chinese” or “Italian” instead of by the regional influence in their cooking. And also why they tend to be so uniform.

It stands to reason that, because this has gone on as long as it has, when someone opens an “Italian” restaurant, they often feel compelled to serve the classics Americans have grown accustomed to. I doubt I’m the only one who can imagine some average American going: “No lasagna?! What kind of freakin’ Italian restaurant doesn’t have lasagna?!”