Chef Michael Ayoub: Mastering the Art and Science of Pizza at Fornino

Michael Ayoub is a chef unlike any other. The Brooklyn native has over 40 years of experience in the culinary industry and has had an affinity for the kitchen ever since he was young.

He bought his first restaurant at the age of 20 after working there as a chef, then had to wait until his 21st birthday to have the liquor license transferred over to him. Now, many years and kitchens later, Ayoub is working on something that is truly near and dear to his heart.

“I really love what I do, and I’m blessed that I never really toiled in a job. I’ve really had the opportunity to do what I want to do culinarily,” Ayoub states. “I’ve had many different types of restaurants over the years, and I’ve settled into this last passion project of mine, Fornino.”

GENERATIONAL PIZZA

Fornino is a Brooklyn-based pizzeria and a true labor of love from Chef Ayoub to the community at large. Meaning “little oven,” as well as being his mother’s maiden name, Fornino was born in 2004 and immediately took pizza to heights it hadn’t seen before. Ayoub explains, “As a chef, I wanted to bring something more to the project and the world of pizza. We opened Fornino with 33 kinds of pizza on the menu. Each were curated, and I gave a historical approach to pizza.”

The menu is split into first, second and third-generation pizza pies. The first generation are the only pies that the Italian government would consider pizza; second generation highlights all the different regions of Italy; and the third generation are the creations of Chef Ayoub and his team.

All of Fornino’s pizzas are cooked in a wood oven. Some of the most popular pies include the Petescia (Brussels sprouts, fennel sausage, fontina, mozzarella, spicy honey and Fresno chili), the Lombardi (prosciutto, mozzarella, arugula, shaved parmesan and lemon) and the Al Roker (soppressata picante, fontina, caramelized onion, roasted pepper, tomato, mozzarella and rosemary).

“I’ve been credited as the first person to put soppressata on pizza in New York,” Ayoub says. “The people that make my soppressata are one of the few in the country that hang it and dry-age it as it has been done forever, as opposed to mass production, giving it a completely different flavor.”

THE DIFFERENCE IS CLEAR

When speaking on the difference between Fornino and other pizzerias, Ayoub explains, “I’ve raised the hydration of your classic New York-style pizza, but I’ve lowered it from your Neapolitan pizza, so I’m somewhere in the middle, and it makes it something very special.”

He goes on to say, “We’re not Neapolitan, we’re not American. People have called us ‘Neo-Neapolitan.’ It gets geeky and involved, and I love it.”

THE GIFT OF LIFE

One of the other things Chef Ayoub gets quite geeky about is his Southampton garden, where he sources vegetables and spices for the pizzas at Fornino. Ayoub’s garden, full of vegetables, herbs and peppers, provides him with the ability to make “garden-to-pie” pizzas at Fornino, making each pie unforgettable.

“The freshness and the quality of food is just amazing, so, of course, it’s going to make a huge difference,” Ayoub states. “I commute a lot to Brooklyn during the summer. I’ll pick before I leave and go slice a tomato four hours off the vine to put on your pizza.“

Ayoub has also been known to give the vegetables and seedlings away to members of his community. When he’s not growing food for a local Hamptons farm, he’s helping his neighbors ensure they have food for tomorrow.

“Food is the common denominator of people. When you have the gift of food, what else is there? It’s the gift of life,” he says.

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF PASSION

Although Ayoub has accomplished so much with Fornino, he’s always looking toward the future. He says, “I’ve been working on this pizza project for 18 years, and I’m in the process of writing another menu, bringing in new items that haven’t been done before.”

With an attitude like this, the possibilities are endless for Chef Ayoub and Fornino. “If you have a passion, there should be no boundaries to it. You should always want to push it and see what’s next. Complacency is just not in my cards,” he states.

 For more information, visit fornino.com.

Todd Shapiro is an award-winning publicist and associate publisher of Dan’s Papers.