"That?" my waitress said, looking over my shoulder to see what dish I was pointing at. "That's fried Tyrolean cheese with polenta, mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. It goes excellently with a Paulaner."

Half a day prior to this interaction at Chalet Rifugio al Faggio at the northern end of Val Concei, I had been on the shore of Lake Ledro, sipping a local Pinot Grigio and watching extended Italian families congregate to gesticulate wildly and chow down on pizza and pasta.