While new pizza joints have proliferated in North Brooklyn, one mainstay just celebrated its 20th anniversary.
Fornino (849 Manhattan Ave.), a local pizza spot founded by Brooklyn native Chef Michael Ayoub, has served pizza and Italian cuisine to North Brooklyn for two decades. Chef Ayoub opened Fornino, named after his mother, in Williamsburg and then moved the restaurant to Greenpoint in 2013. It now has two other locations in Brooklyn.
To honor this milestone, Fornino threw a party this week, “marking two decades of unforgettable moments, mouthwatering pizza, and a strong sense of community,” Fornino wrote on Instagram.
The celebration, which Fornino dubbed the 20 Pie Celebratory Dinner, took place on Tuesday, October 22 and featured a curated tasting of 20 unique wood-fired Neapolitan pies that each represented a chapter of Fornino’s 20-year history.
Chef Ayoub was there to present both classic favorites and inventive new creations. He invited guests to indulge “in 20 of the most popular pies…From the classic Margherita to the beloved Al Roker, each slice will take you down memory lane and remind you why we’ve been a community favorite for the past two decades.”
In an interview with Greenpointers in 2022, Chef Ayoub called Fornino’s Greenpoint location “family centric” and discussed what dishes he recommends.
“We have a tremendous variety of pizza,” the chef said, while also highlighting other dishes like the Anna Rosa’s meatballs. He learned the meatball recipe from an old Italian cooking teacher and has been making them for over 40 years.
Other popular menu items include Fornino’s “unique” antipasti and artichokes, which both come out of the wood-fired oven. “The only cooking facility we have is that wood oven, so everything we make is coming out of a wood-fired oven, which that high heat really makes it very, very special,” Chef Ayoub said.
Fornino is open Tuesday through Saturday noon – 10 p.m. and Sunday noon – 9 p.m.