Fornino Review: Fornino and my educated mother
My very educated mother just served us nine pizzas. That was one of the first things I learned after starting third grade. It’s a mnemonic device used for learning the nine planets in our solar system, although now pluto is not a planet anymore. Does this mean in the future, educated mothers won’t serve nine pizzas but instead will server nachos? What a sad thought. I’m happy to report that even though I’ve always remembered the mnemonic device, I have no idea what the nine planets are without looking it up. That is really sad. Inversely correlated with the level of my stupidity is the awesomeness of Fornino’s pizza. One weekend I found myself in Williamsburg. The weather was especially chilly, and the pizza at Fornino really warmed me up.
It was the afternoon of the NYC Marathon and it was a chilly day out there on Bedford Ave. The restaurant was practically empty and it was nice to sit close to the oven in the back. Maybe escaping the cold into a warm environment made the meal more enjoyable. Maybe it was the company.
When I looked at the menu, for some reason I was fixated on fennel sausage. I settled on the Pugliese which had mozzarella, fennel sausage, and broccoli rabe ($11). Next time I would probably try the Margarita Doc with buffalo mozzarella just to see the difference.
I think the best part about Fornino pizza is the crust. It’s got a little char on the bottom (although I forgot to take pictures of it). Soft and chewy, the crust nicely complements the toppings. The broccoli rabe provided a slightly bitter contrast to the fennel sausage, and together they worked beautifully.
Steph got some Siciliana pizza which had tomato, oregano, anchovies, onion, eggplant, capers, and olives. It was topping heavy but the flavors really blended together well. The anchovies were crisp and together with the capers help to give it a salty, briny flavor. Neither this nor my pugliese were very traditional. But tasty pizza is tasty pizza whether it’s classic or not. Fornino has thirty pizzas on their menu so not every one can be the classic Margherita, but every diner can find one to his/her tastes.
Reading on Slice, it appears that Fornino opened back in 2004. For the last couple of years, they’ve been hosting a pizza party. After tasting the pizza, I would definitely recommend you go to that pizza party thing so you can try as many of their pizzas as possible (unless they do it again on a night with the Elite 8 on tv…) Even the competing pizza shop owner of Motorino says Fornino has some of the best pizza in the city.
Pizza never really showed up on my radar as a warm comfort food during the winter, but this experience really changed my perspective. In many ways, a fresh out of the oven pizza is as restorative as a warm bowl of soup. In other ways, it’s even better. You get to enjoy carbs that fill you up and your body temperature increase from the food consumption. Pizza is also easier to share with friends, and you can even take it home easily if you do not finish. So this winter if you need to warm up with something delicious, pizza might be the answer. I just wish I lived closer to Fornino, because pizza is the new reprieve from the weather and it’s approved by educated mothers everywhere.
Fornino187 Bedford Avenue.Brooklyn, NY 11211718-384-6004
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