The space next to Coperta, the year-old classic Italian spot at 400 E. 20th Ave., will not stand vacant for long. The restaurant’s owners, Aileen and Paul Reilly, gear up to re-open it as a gelato and doughnut shop by the end of October. Previously, the Coperta team operated the space on weekdays as a walk-up espresso bar, serving the usual range of espresso drinks, as well as pastries, breakfast sandwiches and more.

According to Aileen Reilly, the new version keeps the counter-service format and features three to four seats, serving the same gelato and grispelle, a Calabria-style potato doughnut, found on the menu at Coperta since it opened in July 2016. “It’s really nothing new,” she adds. “We just wanted to open it up to the neighborhood.”