Dominique Ansel’s Newest Tasting Menu, Cocktail Comeback, And More Intel

— Pastry powerhouse Dominique Ansel’s dessert tasting menu restaurant U.P. will be releasing tickets for its new theme next Monda at noon, DDQ (Dominique’s Dessert Barbecue). Unlike past meals, this one meal will be communal, with dishes like fondue, Korean BBQ, roasts, and more in dessert form. Potential desserts include ale-poached Bosc pears with lemon thyme, passionfruit caramel rum bananas, and tempura-fried king oyster mushrooms with hazelnut praliné and pomegranate molasses. Tickets for each month tend to sell out quickly.

— East Village cocktail bar Elsa is making a comeback, but in Brooklyn. The bar known for being modeled after a fashion designer workroom closed its Alphabet City location in 2014. The owners will essentially be replicating it at 136 Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill.

— The founder of the Dream Hotel Group — home to restaurants like Bodega Negra and Megu — is charged with setting two dogs on fire. Vikram Chatwal allegedly ran out on the street and screamed “The dogs must die!” before lighting two Jack Russell Terriers on fire. His attorneys are contesting charges and say Chatwal is bipolar and on antidepressants that may be impacting his behavior.

— Marc Forgione now has a weekday burger counter at the Tribeca location American Cut. Burger Bar is open from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and serves a limited menu of a brisket, short rib, and rib-eye burger, a fried chicken sandwich, salads, and milkshakes. It will be around at least through the end of the year.

— Oakland, California’s Ramen Shop is stopping in Brooklyn tonight at Andrew Tarlow’s Diner. They’re serving ramen at the restaurant from midnight to 4 a.m. in honor of the release of “ramen western” film Tampopo.

— Mario Batali rocked his orange Crocs in the White House yesterday while cooking for the final Obama state dinner. He told Eater that while he was a little nervous about the task. Much of the food served was among Michelle Obama’s favorite food, using American ingredients. Stars like Frank Ocean, Jerry Seinfeld, Rachael Ray, and Gwen Stefani, who performed, also attended the dinner.

— The Benjamin Restaurant and Bar in Kips Bay at 603 2nd Avenue is now closed. The restaurant started as Mumbles at the space in 1974. Owners wrote a note to patrons that said they were closing due to the pressures on small restaurants, including labor laws and health department pressures. “This is a very sad day for all of us,” the note says.

— Lower East Side beer garden Loreley now has an outpost in Los Angeles.

— After a brief closure for renovations, L’asso Pizza at 192 Mott Street in the Lower East Side has now officially closed. It had been open since 2005.

— Greenpoint pastry shop Bakeri has opened a location in the East Village, called Bakerita. It sells the same pastries and Counterculture coffee.

— And finally, here’s how the bakery team at Orwashers makes sticky bun loaves: