Pizza al taglio (“by the cut” in Italian) isn’t a style often seen stateside—most pie lovers think round and thin for Italian-style pizza. Developed in Rome, and cooked in big rectangular pans for easy dividing into smaller rectangular slices, pizza al taglio is traditionally sold by weight, and now available throughout Italy—my favorite is Pizzeri...

The ingredients in a classic 1970s Martini commercial were pretty simple: a bunch of beautiful people on a yacht, the glittering Mediterranean and a soaring orchestra. As the jingle reached its climax – ‘It’s the bright one, the right one. It’s Martini’ – no­-one doubted that this was one of the most glamorous lifestyle brands around. But arch­-riv...