Pastry Wizard Dominique Ansel to Open a Cronut-Free Bakery in the West Village

Dominique Ansel, Cronut mastermind and pastry dreamweaver, is opening a new bakery in the West Village. Here's the catch: It will not sell Cronuts. Ansel has taken over the old Landbrot space on Seventh Avenue South for the new project, which he tells the Times will only serve pastries that have been made to order. That means desserts more along the lines of the warm madeleines he serves at the original, plus more elaborate preparations. There will be mille fueille and chocolate mousse, and no doubt some more wild things than that. At night, Ansel will also serve a dessert tasting at a communal table. Expect the shop to be open by spring.

Update: Dominique Ansel tells Eater he decided to make his follow-up bakery Cronut free because "One of my first jobs was to set up bakeries for Fauchon around the world -- cut and paste style, for over 8 years. In my opinion, it's a model that no longer works. I don't want to take the support of our fans for granted and give them the same ole thing." That being said, he also wanted to open a second bakery because the first one doesn't have a ton of kitchen space. And, as a representative clarifies, only 70 percent of the pastries will be made or finished to order. So there will still be croissants, though even some of those will be finished to order, with additions like freshly slice ham.

Flo Fab also notes that Maria Loi has closed the deal on Wolfgang Ban's Michelin-starred Austrian restaurant Seasonal, and will open a Greek restaurant, Loi Estatorio, this month.

Dominique Ansel Bakery, 137 7th Avenue South, West Village