ironchef, i'll be nice also.
have you ever been to nyc? we have a few italians here too.
there's both kinds of italian food here, the italian-american recycled generic stuff, which can be quite good, and the "real" italian. i put real in quotes because trying to nail down a specific recipe for any true italian dish is very difficult. as i'm sure you know, the 2 main things that define italian cooking are regional foodstuffs, and their season or freshness. but then wthin the regions, every family has it's own little secrets and traditions in the food prep and cooking. sometimes, there's even differences within a family.
in my town alone, a small suburb 10 miles west of the city, there are 4 or 5 small restaurants that are owned by naturalized italians, each re-creating the dishes that they grew up on, or have learned the last time they went home to visit family. they are local places, often byo, far from a high end restaurant. one place, really a glorified pizza place, has excellent real italian dishes. i've ordered cioppino there, as well as chicken parm. both were excellent. i've even made a deal with the owner that i'll come in some friday night and wash dishes, and in return he'll teach me how to make some of my favorite dinners.
italian food in america may have started out as chey boy-ar-dee (chef boyardi, an actual italian immigrant), but has become so popular that the masses here are clamoring for the real thing, along with pizza and parm .
btw, i happen to agree with you about the olive garden, and fettucine aldredo.
and i have had risotto with mushrooms (con tartofo?), and seafood risotto. i prefer seafood over angel hair, but that's just my preference. my wife's fav new restaurant near us is called risotto, where they offer about 10 different risotto dishes. her fave is the risotto al frutti del mare.