When Mother and Father Cream brought siblings Icey Cream and Gelato into the wintry world, they educated one stateside while the other was sent overseas to learn within Italian freezers. Today's Groupon traces the European pathway of young Gelato all the way back home to Paciugo, where $5 gets you $10 worth of caffe and frozen delicacies. Hundreds of handmade flavors await curious palates at two locations, in Brookfield and Wauwatosa.

Paciugo specializes in sub-zero refreshment that contains 70% less fat than ice cream, thus making it 130% more justified to eat consecutive pints of the frigid stuff. A dessert that meets the FDA's standards for healthful foods, Paciugo's Turin recipes employ fresh and all-natural ingredients to craft the perfect scoops of sweet sustenance. The gelaterie's menu ushers taste buds toward small picollo cups ($3.99) with three scoops and up to three different flavors, such as black raspberry, amaretto chocolate chip, chocolate black-cherry swirl, black-pepper olive oil, Mediterranean sea-salt caramel, chocolate orange saffron, and many more. The medio size includes four scoops and up to four different flavors ($4.71). Each of Paciugo's rich, creamy delights is made from whole milk, soy, or water so that a suitable flavor can match with any dietary need, unless you're allergic to joy.

Where cool temperatures pry open a mouth's flavor factories, steamy rivers of Gran Miscela Caffe fill them with the rich aromas of liquid coffee beans. Coffee helps to elevate the sweetness of a crisp gelato while giving cosmopolitan snackers ample opportunity to flex their sipping pinkies.

Reviews

Paciugo was nominated by CityVoters for Best Desserts 2009. One Yelper gives the Wauwatosa location five stars, and two give the Brookfield location 3.5 stars:

• A Gelato cone beats a PLAIN ice cream cone for a refreshing break with a wide variety of flavors and the desserts are not only refreshing but very appealing to the eye AND palate. It truely [sic] brings the best of Italy for a refreshing break from tradition! – Mary G., CityVoter
• Best Gelato EVER! – lovejustis1717, CityVoter
• The environment was great, the taste was superbly authentic, and the service was top-notch! – WallsRock, CityVoter