Closing Time at a Diner That Never Closed

[Natasha]

Closing Time at a Diner That Never Closed

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/30/nyregion/30florent.html
6/30/2008

"Florent, the undistinguished but somehow unforgettable diner that
ushered in the transformation of Manhattan's meatpacking district,
closed amid fanfare and heartbreak on Sunday night. It had been nearly
23 years since Florent Morellet, the tiny French restaurateur with the
outsize personality, opened his namesake restaurant on Gansevoort
Street, then a haven for ->-bleeped-<- prostitutes, gay bars and a
brand of debauchery that had little in common with the sleek corporate
offerings that define the neighborhood today."