Frank Bruni delivers a epoch-marking piece on the death of Florent in the Times today, one of the largest, and best, such features we can remember reading in the paper. For Bruni and a lot of other people, the restaurant’s owner, Florent Morellet, symbolizes a New York that is rapidly ceasing to exist – especially in areas like the Meatpacking District, which has now priced out its original pioneer. Bruni talks to everyone from actress Jackie Hoffman to former New York critic Hal Rubenstein, to Roy Lichtenstein’s widow Dorothy, and comes up with a mosaic of memories that does lasting credit to both the restaurant and the man. Read it — and then eat at Florent.

Genre-Bending Hangout Takes Its Final Bows [NYT]
Complete Grub Street Coverage of Florent