Last night walking past the now defunct Tempo Restaurant site on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope I saw activity! A striking new sign, a beautiful interior, three storefronts worth of space (one for take out, one for the bar and pizza and a large dining room).

Inside workers were hard at work renovating and getting the restaurant ready for its opening in a week or so (I apologize for the terrible iPhone photo).

Previously reported here the owners of Stone Park Cafe and a member of the Cucina family (Fifth Avenue royalty and owners of much of Fifth Avenue real estate at one time and a pioneering restaurant called Cucina) were going to team up to open a Asian style restaurant.

Well, that ain’t happening but something else is. Something BIG. Very BIG.

A little bird told me that someone connected to the Cucina family is part owner of Fornino, a new Fifth Avenue restaurant that will serve pizza, salads, small plates, and dinner entrees.

Fornino? Isn’t Fornino an ACCLAIMED pizza restaurant in Williamsburg (and elsewhere) owned by award winning chef Michael Ayoub? Here from a 2007 article about Ayoub and Fornino in the Brooklyn Paper

Pizza is the great common denominator among people,” Michael Ayoub told GO Brooklyn this week. The crazy thing is, he may be right.

Sitting at a table in his award-winning Williamsburg restaurant, Fornino, Ayoub was rightfully proud to be discussing his growing pizza empire. To call Fornino, or its newborn Manhattan sibling Cronkite, a “pizzeria” is a mighty understatement. What he offers — gourmet pies with homegrown and high-end ingredients, including homemade mozzarella and three types of specialty flour — is about as far from a plain old slice as you can get.

And that’s just the way he wants it.

“When I was a kid,” he said, “a slice of Sicilian at Pizza Wagon on 86th Street [was the best in town], but that was a different time and an uneducated palate. At this point, I’m a little bit of a pizza snob.”

Growing up in Bay Ridge, Ayoub began cooking at an early age. After teenage stints working in delis and restaurants, he opened his first eatery, Skaffles, at the age of 20. While the restaurant had to hold off on a liquor license until its owner was of age, Ayoub was intent on making it a success.

From what I can see it looks gorgeous in there. I was especially impressed with the bar which has a golden glow thanks to beautiful cone shaped light bulbs.  The place looks atmospheric and fun, like somewhere I’d want to go for a glass of wine or dinner with friends.