Pistachio gelato (topped with more pistachio) at Gelateria dei Coltelli...

Pistachio gelato (topped with more pistachio) at Gelateria dei Coltelli in Williston Park on April 18. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus

When Allen Aingorn first started making gelato on Willis Avenue nearly two decades ago, the frozen Italian treat was a rarity on Long Island, produced by only a handful of bakeries and restaurants. Now there are dozens of gelaterias across Nassau and Suffolk, but none are better than Gelateria dei Coltelli, which recently moved into a sparkling new space a block north of the previous store.

The shop’s name (pronounced “day coal-TELL-ee”) honors Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, the Sicilian chef who first popularized Italian ice cream at his Café Procope, founded in Paris in 1686. Aingorn takes that legacy seriously: his is one of a very few local gelaterias that does not use a premade base, starting instead with milk, cream and sugar and pasteurizing onsite.

The basic flavors shine here. Vanilla is clear as a bell. Chocolate comes in three varieties — milk, regular and dark that not only vary in depth of chocolate but also in sweetness. Most shops use vanilla for the stracciatella (like chocolate chip but with threads, not chips, of chocolate), Aingorn uses fior di latte, which looks like vanilla but bears only the flavor of sweet cream and throws the dark Belgian chocolate into even higher relief.

Ingredients here are laboriously sourced: pistachio paste from San Marino, coffee extraction from Sicily. His original source for dragon fruit dried up and, after months of searching, he found a great product at, of all places, Target.

Aingorn said that plant-based options are becoming more popular — he now has a case devoted to dairy-free gelato and fruit sorbetto (don’t miss the raspberry or the blood orange) that is vegan. And over-the-top ice cream trends have also migrated into gelato so that you will now find flavors (looking at you, rainbow cookie) that don’t exist in Italy.

Aingorn’s first gelateria, Baci Gelato in Albertson, was a partnership with Doron Bensusan. In 2010 Baci moved south to Williston Park; in 2016 Bensusan departed and Baci was renamed Gelateria dei Coltelli. With his lease due to expire, Aingorn bought the vacant lot one block north and built the gelateria of his dreams, a chic, airy space with a glassed in patio and the capacity to expand the offerings into sweet crepes and a full-on coffee menu with hand-pulled espresso drinks, French press and pour-over.

Gelateria dei Coltelli, 615 Willis Ave., Williston Park. Open Monday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Sunday and Thursday to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday to 10:30 p.m.; 516-801-1706, deicoltelli.com.

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