Leaving Great Italian and Chinese Food Behind in NJ...

One of the few drawbacks of leaving New Jersey behind was -- and this should be an obvious one -- the FOOD. I lived in northern NJ in an area that had a very large Italian population. In fact, the house used as Tony Soprano's house was a couple of miles away. Every other store front on the main street was either an Italian place, a Chinese place, or a nail salon. The best pizza came from -- well, let's just say that right before I moved, the best pizzeria in town burned down with the owner tied up to a chair inside. Don't worry, he lived; in fact, turned out to be an insurance scam. He had the co-owner tie him up, set the place on fire, and run....as soon as he alerted the fire department, that is. I heard it reopened, but I wonder if the pizza and the garlic knots are still the best around. Now if you wanted great gourmet pizza, you went to Forte's. Forte's also had a couple of strokes of bad luck, when a drunk driver crashed through their store front in the wee hours of the morning and the car burst into flames. As soon as the place was all rebuilt and reopened, someone else went and crashed through it again! Now there's a guardrail...as well as a brand new Italian Village practically right behind it, which houses yet another Italian restaurant/pizzeria, bakery, wine shop...well, either way, I really miss the best pizza around! Speaking of Italian food, no one in Nashville seems to ever have heard of cavatelli (pronounced 'gah-va-deel') and they sure don't sell it anywhere around here!!! That just truly breaks my little heart!! Broccoli and cavatelli was a favorite dinner at home. And please do not send me your recipe for making fresh, homemade cavatelli. I'm just not that ambitious. Nor am I Italian. As for the best Chinese take-outs (and CHEAP!!)....I don't think I'll EVER get over that one!! Take away the snow, take away Dunkin' Donuts on every corner, take away cavatelli...but I can't live without the great Chinese take-out!! I went to a good Chinese buffet on Nolensville Pike, but... it still ain't take out! All this Southern cooking of deep-fried this and that, and cooking vegetables in bacon fat (!!), and sausage biscuits, hash browns, cheese or cream cheese smothering whatever isn't cooked in bacon fat...I can't believe that anyone here lives past the age of 40 or has any teeth left after eating pecan pie all their lives!! Please don't pollute my own personal arteries with all that... I'll settle for fresh sushi, fruit and produce from Trader Joe's (for $15 you can take home a bag of healthy foods that will last you a week!), and that Chinese Buffet once in a blue moon. If that's what kills me, well at least I'll die happy. If, in the meantime, you ever come across some cavatelli anywhere in the Nashville area (fresh or preferably frozen), please let me know where!!! And remember, pronounce it 'gah-va-deel'!