Madeline Lanciani is expanding the hours of her stalwart Tribeca spot Duane Park Patisserie to create a cozy after-hours location for a sweet and a drink. The new Ring Ding Bar After Hours will be open Wednesday to Saturday from 7 to 10p, and Sundays from 2 to 8p. Tonight is the first night!

Expect an array of confections (see the menu below) including crème brûlée, baked Alaska, profiteroles, a trio of tartes, molten chocolate cake, the pie of the day, and of course her signature ring dings, as well as a selection of wines and beers.

Madeline renovated the space last summer (she’s been on the park since 1992 — 34 years! her Spotlight feature is a great read — I’ve excerpted some below) to expand the seating and add a standing bar area. And she launched the new menu with a party and a stop on the Friends of Duane Park’s benefit pub crawl. It worked great as a party space, NB.

Bakery offerings and hours remain the same; this is just the cherry on top.

Ring Ding Bar After Hours
at Duane Park Patisserie
179 Duane | Greenwich & Staple
212-274-8447
Wednesday to Saturday, 7 to 10p
Sundays from 2 to 8p.

From Madeline’s Spotlight feature in 2017:

How did you get started in this business?
My parents were immigrants, and because of their culture, my brothers and sisters and I ate local before it was cool. My mother—a typical stay-at-home mom—made everything herself, including baked goods and bread. Food and meals were a very important part of family life: We had to be home for dinner no matter what. (Not till college did I eat at a friend’s house.) I grew up learning how to cook—all of us did, even the boys. And we all learned stuff like car maintenance, too! It was just practical. As a kid, besides babysitting, I earned money working at local restaurants—as a waiter, busboy, carhop….

Carhop?! Where was this magical place?
Southern Ohio. I was always attracted to the kitchen, so as soon as I could, I got in. But at the same time, I always studied music. My goal was to sing, preferably opera, and to be onstage. I studied keyboard since I was eight years old, and I went to college for music and opera. I used to make money in college singing, but also catering, making food for the receptions for artists who came to the conservatory to perform. This is a digression….

Go for it.
One time, Beverly Sills was coming to do a master class, and I was so excited. The day of the event, I was bringing trays of food to the room, backing my way through the door, when she came the other direction and I literally ran into her with a tray of brownies. I was so flustered. She laughed, took a brownie, and said, “Oh, how delicious!” Fast forward four years later, in New York City. A friend who knew Beverly and I went to see her perform. Afterward, we went backstage to meet her. When we got to the front of the line, she gave my friend a hug, and then she looked at me and said, “You’re the brownie girl!”

Tribeca has obviously changed a lot. Any thoughts on its evolution?
Change is inevitable in New York—it’s in the city’s DNA. If you want to live somewhere with no change, move somewhere rural. I’ve always loved the small-town, Mayberry feel of this neighborhood. You walk down the street, and you say hello to people you see. It’s still that way. However, some of the recent developments—56 Leonard, 443 Greenwich, 30 Park Place—I’m not so sure the buyers are living there. It’s more of a pied-à-terre. If you’re not living here, you can’t understand how special it is here.

How has your business changed?
When I first opened here, there definitely weren’t as many people. And I didn’t have a retail counter—it was mostly business to caterers. Catering was 70 percent of the business for a long time; it’s probably 60 percent now. Zoning in Tribeca didn’t allow retail on side streets, but I was allowed because it was an accessory use to manufacturing. (This was 20 years ago.) It started as extra pastries left over from catering orders. I put stuff out, and if people liked it, they bought it. More and more people wanted lemon tarts, or whatever, without the selection being hit or miss, so I made a line of pastries for the store.