Wellington has a new gelato counter with a seventy-year family story behind it. La Coppetta Matta has opened at 10660 Forest Hill Boulevard, Suite 150, run by sisters Patricia and Laura, whose father built one of the best-known pastry shops in New York's West Village. The case is full of gelato and sorbetto made in the shop every day, and there is something South Florida New Yorkers have been missing for years: proper Italian ices.

From a West Village dish station to Forest Hill Boulevard

The family timeline is the best thing on the shop's website. In 1957 a 17-year-old named Rocco arrived from Italy and took a job washing dishes in a West Village pastry shop. He worked his way up to pastry chef, and in 1974 he bought the shop and put his name on it: Rocco's Pastry Shop and Espresso Café. When he retired in 2011, Patricia, Laura and their younger brother took it over and renamed it Pasticceria Rocco. Anyone who has stood in line there for cannoli knows the place.

La Coppetta Matta is the sisters' own project, and it is 100 percent woman owned. The name means crazy little cup, and the shop leans into it with bright colors and a sense of humor. The recipes, though, are serious. The gelato is made from scratch the old-fashioned Italian way, and the Italian ices come straight from the Rocco's tradition.

What is in the case

The flavor list rotates, so the case looks a little different every visit, but it runs long. On the classic Italian side there is pistachio, gianduia (the Turin pairing of chocolate and hazelnut), tiramisu, crema di caffè, fig mascarpone, lemon mascarpone, ricotta with bilberry and vanilla amarena. Then the shop has fun: S'mores, strawberry shortcake, grasshopper cream pie, pineapple upside down, caramel peanut popcorn, Biscoff, cotton candy and bubble gum for the kids. A Florida key lime gelato tastes like the pie, and yes, there is a Dubai chocolate flavor with pistachio and crispy kataifi for anyone chasing the viral bar.

The sorbetto is dairy free, made from water, sugar and fruit, and leans tropical: mango, passionfruit, pink guava, piña colada and a mixed tropical blend of mango, pineapple and berry. In a South Florida September, that is the fast way to cool down.

The Italian ices are the reason to drive over

Real New York Italian ices are hard to find down here, and this is the family that has been making them in Manhattan for decades. They are smooth and icy rather than grainy, sold in a small cup for $5.50, or by the pint ($8) and quart ($15) to take home. Gelato and sorbetto run $5.90 for one scoop, $7.55 for two and $8.75 for three, with sugar and waffle cones, hand-dipped cones and toppings as add-ons.

The specialty list is where the crazy little cup earns its name. The Gelato Nachos ($9.50) pile one gelato flavor and a topping onto waffle chips. The Coppetta ($9.95) layers gelato with cookies, crumbles and whipped cream. There is an Affogato ($7.50), gelato drowned in espresso, and milkshakes made with whichever gelato you pick ($11.50). On the frozen drink side, the Cremoso al Cappuccino is a frozen cappuccino, and there is a frozen hot chocolate and a peach or lemon granita.

Taking it home

For a birthday, a dinner party or a freezer that needs restocking, the shop packs gelato into take-home tubs: small ($24), medium ($37) and large ($45). The Crazy Cup comes in small and medium sizes for a dessert to share.

If you go

Go after the dinner rush on a weeknight, order a small Italian ice alongside a scoop of pistachio, and decide for yourself which one wins. Prices can change, so check the menu before you go.