A new restaurant getting ready to open up on 5th Avenue hopes to make customers feel more like they're sitting at a pizzeria in Italy than one in New York City, owners said. L'Arte della Pizza Brooklyn, a collaboration between two Italian pizza chefs, is putting the final touches to its 172 5th Avenue storefront next week.

The restaurant plans to have a soft opening next Wednesday followed by a grand opening event scheduled tentatively for April 20, business partner Anna Villani said. Villani, who is also the wife of one of the two chefs running the kitchen, said the restaurant will offer a lighter, more Italian-style version of what New Yorkers might be used to in the pizza world.