All the talk about how dining out has become more casual obviously ignores the fact that the overwhelming majority of restaurants are casual, not least -- and especially in New York -- the venerable Italian trattorias, distinct from high-end Italian ristoranti with Frette linens and Ginori china.

At the former, they perfected long ago the art of "dolce far niente," that is, the sweetness of doing nothing, achieved through a lot of hard work. The irony is that not too long ago, pizzerias were quite distinct from trattorias and ristoranti until pizza went from being snack food to gourmet item. Today, even high-end Italian restaurants serve the now exalted pies.

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