Farewell Florent

    The Fox 10 0′Clock News reported on Tuesday night that Florent, the venerable, reasonably-priced 24-hour French restaurant in the Meatpacking District will close in June. I was saddend to hear this. Reportedly, the eatery’s rent is increasing from $9000 per month to the astronomical sum of $60,000 per month.

      I have many fond memories of going to Florent. Moslty popping in late at night after clubbing in my younger days. I remember going there late one night around 1990 with my boss from PAPER Magazine after hanging out at Siberia on Washington Street, having a bite and then going home and staying up to write a paper on John the Baptist for my philosophy class. I had a great meal there on New Year’s Day  of 1997 with some friends. The last time I was there was on the day of Wigstock around 2000. I sat at the counter and had something to eat and my friendly waiter was a guy wearing pigtails and a straw cowboy hat.

              I loved the goat cheese salad at Florent, and although I forget exactly what cut it was, I enjoyed their steak with frites. The atmosphere was always lively, the waitstaff gracious. I never had to wait very long for a table.

             The epidemic of restaurants and businesses closing up because of skyrocketing rents is an outrage: it’s destroying the essence of the city. Florent, the Zen Palate that was on Union Square,the Cheyenne diner, two big Barnes & Noble stores all had to close due to landlord greed. Is Mahattan just going to be filled with Burberrys and Louis Vuitton boutiques? Is the decently-priced restaurant with some personality going to become an extinct species? I hope not, but things don’t look good.

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