20 Years Later, This Brooklyn Pizzeria Is Better Than Ever

03.05.2024 - 21:37 / forbes.com

Before Brooklyn pizzerias claiming to offer the best version of everyone’s favorite food became the trend that they are today, there was Fornino.

This is a place that has been credited with starting the movement. It’s where the pizza truly is the best, and as it celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, the pies, along with the salads, chicken and other plates, are as good and even better than their early days.

Fornino chef and owner Michael Ayoub has turned the science of pizza making into an art form at his thriving locations in Greenpoint, at Time Out Market and Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 6.

Creativity, sustainability and the science of fermentation are at the forefront of Chef Ayoub’s pizza-making process- he even has a gluten-free version that’s incredible.

I interviewed Ayoub recently about his continued success and how he pushes himself to stay on top of his game.

You've been a chef for over 40 years, working at renowned restaurants like Skaffles and Cucina. What drew you specifically to wood-fired pizza as your culinary focus for Fornino?

In 2004, I opened up Fornino. The impetus was people and pizza, which has always been my passion. Pizza was in all of the restaurants I worked at before. I was doing grilled pizza at Skaffles and making a very crispy, thin, Chicago-like pizza at Cucina.

I thought it was time to take it to the next level. So I took the time to study pizza and it became a passion of mine. I saw that there was a void in the market.

When you think of pizza, you think about a slice place. I wanted to somehow bridge the gap between NY style and classical Neapolitan and what they call the pizza at Fornino now is Neo-Neapolitan. I also realized how involved it was science-wise with dough-making. It was only after a while that we came up with the tagline, the Art & Science of Pizza. Fornino is my mother's maiden name. I always wanted to do something with it. It was always in the back of my head. And obviously, wood-fired pizza works well with the name.

Fornino has been credited with igniting the artisanal pizza craze in New York City. Can you tell us how you feel about its impact on the pizza scene today?

When Fornino was born, I had 33 types of pizza on the menu. We took a historical approach to pizza. The pizza of the first generation was what the Italian government would consider pizza. The second generation would be all the regions of Italy since they all have their specialties. And then the third generation was something that myself and my staff created. Fornino brought a different sensibility to the pizza game for the fact that I was a trained chef before I got into pizza, whereas a lot of the pizza chefs are simply pizza chefs who don't have the classical training