A true Italian pizzeria is pretty much all about pizzas. Standards and specialty pizzas. And, of course, pizzas made to order.

It is always a pleasure to discover a great new Guadalajara restaurant when you are not expecting it. In the case of Labne, it was more than unexpected – I was putting up active resistance to trying a new place for Sunday brunch, even though I adore Lebanese and other Middle Eastern food.

Columbus has finally gotten an ambitious Italian restaurant on his namesake street. Calle Colon serves as a walkway of several fine restaurants, but none Italian. Tremezzo has attempted to fill that gap.

Which is more a telling sign that your civilization has crested and is about to batter itself into oblivion on the rocks of history: an excessive pursuit of leisure, a la the decadent court of Caligula, or a tendency towards self-flagellating, obsessive internal criticism – which, come to think of it, occurs mainly in societies with too much leisure time on their hands?

“This doesn’t seem like a fusion,” remarked my dining companion as we perused the menu at Heidi’s Restaurante Alemán y Biergarten (German restaurant and beer garden) in Guadalajara.

I’d like to underscore two key dining appreciation issues for all Ajijic diners.