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Madeline Lanciani is selling Duane Park Patisserie
Madeline on the left
Talk about the end of an era. After 33 years, Madeline Lanciani, who opened Duane Park Patisserie in 1992, has put the business on the market for sale.
“I am hoping to find someone to continue and build on the legacy,” she said in an email. “After almost 34 years, I want to retire this chapter of my life and move on to the next.” She added that she was on her way to LA to visit her new grandson, who was just born on Thursday.
Jeff Tabak is handing the sale. Reach him at tabak1bkr@aol.com.
Madeline moved to New York from Southern Ohio to sing and perform and would bake at night and sell her goods to nearby food stores in the Village to pay the bills. (It is totally worth reading her Spotlight feature here to read the whole story.) She took a night course on baking then had to apprentice herself — the industry did not hire women — for free for months until she wore down the managers at the Plaza Hotel. By then she was hooked on what she called “the entire theater of food prep and food service.”
She worked at the Plaza for two and a half years — “99 men and me — and I wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. There were no bathroom facilities; I had to go four flights up to where the housekeepers were.” And by the time she left, she had earned their respect and also married the pastry chef — Joe Lanciani.
The couple opened their first bakery in 1977 on West 4th Street (“We were the Dominique Ansel of our day! People stood in line to buy a croissant. Back then, if you wanted a croissant, you had to go to Paris.”) and another location across from Raoul’s on Prince Street in 1985. Along the way, they got divorced, but stayed business partners. In 1988, after they had each remarried, Madeline kept Prince Street and Joe kept West 4th. She closed it in 1991 when the rent became untenable and operated out of Raoul’s basement.
She found her spot on Duane Park in 1992. Tribeca of course has changed since then but in some ways has stayed the same.
“I’ve always loved the small-town, Mayberry feel of this neighborhood,” she said in her spotlight feature. “You walk down the street, and you say hello to people you see. It’s still that way.”
She got through the pandemic by reducing staff and shipping around the country as best she could. And she just recently renovated and then launched an night-time dessert program, getting a liquor license and extending hours.
But all good things come to an end. Maybe there’s a Ring Ding Bar in her future elsewhere… Till then, it’s been an amazing run, and an amazing New York story.
“I’m so lucky,” she said. “When I get up in the morning, I still like going to work.”
19 Comments
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We will miss seeing Madeline in the neighborhood! Duane Park Patisserie has been such an important part of the community, especially for those of us living on the block. We wish her well in her next endeavor!
Best of luck to Madeline in her next chapter, but this will be a loss to the neighborhood.
It started with our wedding cake in 1995 and soooo many other celebrations and cakes ever since. Few things are more TriBeCa than Madelines. Halloween won’t be the same without her. Thank you from the bottom of my stomach.
Warmest wishes to you Madeline on the next chapter of your journey. We will miss you everyday but especially during the holidays!
This location holds so many family memories, from visits made by my children to the bakery kitchen while pre-school students at Washington Market to creating memorable birthday cakes year after year for their birthday parties in the 90’s. We still visit for our favorite cookies and wish Madeline nothing but the best in her next adventures!!
I loved photographing Madeline over the years but more than that eating her cakes and cookies. She’s made milestone cakes for our family over the years and I remember each one of them! Her fondant is my favorite! Can’t forget the ring dings!
Can there even be a Tribeca without Madeline?? Where will I get my Plum Pudding? But life is to be lived, so enjoy the next chapter!
good luck.
you will be so missed and in many ways irreplaceable.
you’re an integral part of the quickly vanishing Tribeca i moved to and love.
sad but happy for you.
onward and upward. ! xxd
Thank you for decades of cakes, tarts, and contributing so much to the neighborhood.
Madeline you and the patisserie will sorely be missed. Wishing you the best.
As soon as I read Madeline was off to LA to visit
Her new grandson, I totally accepted we would be losing her: his gain but our tremendous loss. How can I dazzle guests with her amazing pies at Thanksgiving? Godspeed Madeline, you are epic.
dear neighbors and friends- or friends and neighbors- you have all become one to me.
Time for me to close this chapter and begin a new one in “Nanaville” so I have just put the bakery on the market. i am hoping to find a buyer who will continue the legacy, with their own special touches and ideas.
I’m not leaving anytime soon- it takes a while to find the right successor-and I may even stay on as a consultant.
sooo- please keep stopping in. this week I’m in “Nanaville” with my new grandson- will be back in the shop on Monday.
I have been so lucky to be able to do what i love- feed people- and make ends meet.
hope i can find a successor with the same passion.
Madeline’s wonderful business is not only a neighborhood institution, it is a treasure. And the there’s the lady herself: warm, generous, supportive of her community, and an exceptional talent.
You will be missed!
Madeline is the BEST! Duane Park Patisserie was alway our go to place, for anything yummy. In addition to the usual great pastries, she makes amazing cakes for any special occasion. Thank you and Madeline, you will be missed.
You have had a remarkable NY run; my very best wishes for your next adventure. XO
Madeline. Say it ain’t so!
As a long time Tribeca resident I used to drive up to 4th street to get those yummy pasties. Imagine my delight when she opened on Duane Street.
A go to for special events, birthday cakes, magic cup cakes, wedding gifts, ring dings (always a great gift when visiting friends), and graduation gifts. Great snacks at soccer games. Always friendly. And gave us Olivia and nick.
Add in this-a Chopped winner.
You will be missed.
You have been such a vital and integral of the neighborhood through thick and thin, from before and after 9/11 and all the other changes in the neighborhood; you have been a real constant. This is so well deserved and exciting. We wish you the very best. Xo
Impossible! Without Madeline and Patisserie Lanciani, what’s left? What will I DO? Well, I could always go around the corner to that little shop that just sells caviar and pate. Not a very good breakfast. Or I could go across the street to Laughing Man or whatever it’s called now and imagine I’m in Brentwood or the Hollywood Hills, buy a latte and fight for a seat. Well, there’s always Tribeca Grill and Riverrun and HowsBayou and Yaffa’s. No, there isn’t. Madeline, stay open for ME.
Well, I should call it by its proper name, Duane Park Patisserie.
When I lived in the West Village in the late ’80s, the Lanciani Mandarin chocolate cake was a go-to treat for any special occasion. The Duane Park Patisserie opened shortly before my wife and I moved to Tribeca and we always thought of the bakery as one of the joys of living here. We will miss it greatly.