Florent is closing June 29, 2008.

Don’t go.

The mostly 24 hours restaurant Florent was in the Meatpacking District before Sex and the City made the Meatpacking District popular.

It always had the best steak frites. Although it’s wonderful to go there anytime, it’s best to go around 4 a.m., drunk, happy and in the company of good friends.

One of my favorite nights at Florent was a Bastaille Day celebration, 3 or 4 years ago. The waitstaff wore full on costumes to perform their various skits. On the countertop. This was a night that my friends and I wanted to empty the world of champagne.

This was not manufactured fun, where people show up and smile to give credence to a video game or a new phone in the hopes that the pictures will propel their marginal talents onward. It was the kind of fun where company and a genuine connection to location make all the difference in the world and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Oh Florent, I plan to make many more visits before I have to say goodbye.

Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York on Florent

NY Observer interview with Florent Morellet

(photo via outsidein)