When we think of a fantastic Italian restaurant, what comes to mind? The heat of a wood-fired pizza oven, the aroma of garlic and basil on top of freshly prepared pasta, the pervasive smell of fresh clams and octopus. But what about matzah ball soup or grape leaves? What about chefs speaking Arabic, Japanese, and Sinhalese? What about grandmas from many different countries running the kitchen on a rotating schedule? In Staten Island‘s neighborhood of St. George, Enoteca Maria fuses authentic Italian fare with a taste of cuisines from all over the world, cooked by “Nonnas” (Italian for “grandmother”) passionate about sharing their culture with adventurous diners.

As the population of New York continues to diversify, the city will only become a happier place when there’s a deeper bench of honest, uncompromising, and non-exorbitant places to eat. Take Llama San. It serves as proof that an excellent Peruvian-Japanese restaurant can book up just as far out as a classical fine dining temple. Or consider Haenyeo, a packed French-Korean spot that’s packed on any given night thanks to a Mexican-Korean rice cake fundido. And for those craving the meaty, milky cuisine of Italy’s Emilia-Romagna, Rezdora is happy to take your name for an 23:30 seating.

Standout dishes that are vegan, vegetarian, or pescatarian.

• Dae Jang Guem: King Trumpet Mushroom skewers (vegan)
• Sichuan Cuisine: Mapo Tofu (vegan)
• Lanzhou Handmade Noodle: Vegetable Noodle Soup (vegetarian)
• Laoma Malatang: Dry pot (vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian)
• Eight Beautitudes: Japchae with Rice (vegan)
• The Old Captain Fish Dumplings: Egg and Chive Dumplings (Vegetarian)

For the last 140 years or so, Japan has had eating establishments known as yoshoku-ya. These specialize in foods from outside the country’s cuisine that have been adapted for Japanese tastes, such as curry (India via England) or hamburgers (Germany by way of America). The results are often enthralling, and the canon constitutes a perfect example of the salutary nature of fusion cuisines, which have often developed as a result of international trade, or from more negative causes like war and colonialism. Though these dishes have dotted New York Japanese restaurants for decades, only recently have restaurants opened with menus more thoroughly dedicated to yoshoku — sometimes offering several dishes artistically on a single tray. Aoi Kitchen is the latest example. The largest features set meals that each focus on one yoshoku dish. The one I ordered blew me away: omurice. While this is no ordinary fried rice, the omelet is also unusual. It plays with the nature and meaning of eggs. A hemispheric heap of fried rice goes on the plate, then an omelet cooked into a dome is placed so that it seamlessly covers and conceals the rice. The exceedingly yellow omelet forms a damp tarp, so that the partly cooked egg glistens in every depression and crevice of the dome.