Go ahead, demand it all, but do so at Fornetto Mei, a Pan-Italian restaurant that offers Italian cuisine with Chinese touches (thank you, Marco Polo). Cooking begins early in the morning with a hearty breakfast menu of eggs, pancakes and baked goods that skews toward the indulgent with its bananas foster French toast, topped with caramelized bananas, toasted pecans and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Come noontime you can enjoy the semi-casual dining atmosphere with fear of running over your lunch hour; if your meal isn't served in 45 minutes Monday through Friday, it's on the house.

The menu at Fornetto Mei changes seasonally, but the thin-crust pies served from the wood-fired pizza oven remain a popular choice year-round (especially the Italian sausage pie with red grapes and Laurel Chenel goat cheese).

While a pick from the world wine list is a fine choice, the selection of more than 200 martinis is hard to pass up...as is the restaurant itself, thanks to an upscale atmosphere that stops just short of stuffiness.

Centerstage Reviewer: Erin Delahanty