Bash Compactor: Heavy Flo

Last Thursday night, The Altman Building was packed and abuzz. The idea behind the New York City Food Film Festival was to pair film with food and this was the night devoted to restaurateur Florent Morellet and Florent, his 24-hour French bistro in the Meatpacking District, which closed in 2008 after 23 fabulous years. “Where’s the food?” I whined, jealous of the other guests traipsing around with fragrant boxes of French fries. But I’d just located the open bar, serving wine and a strange tasting vodka cocktail, when it was time for the film to start. Dubbed Florent, Queen of the Meatmarket, the new documentary was premiering at the Festival.

Director David Sigal was on hand and there was Florent himself, standing near the entrance, smiling and saying hello to a few of his many friends—a popular guy, judging by the dozens of devoted customers who’d shown up. Both appearing in the film and gadding about at the party were entertainers Penny Arcade, Dirty Martini, Murray Hill and Tigger!, gay nightlife impresario Daniel Nardiccio and director Kevin Malony, among many others. Julianne Moore was a talking head in the film but was not present, but then neither were customers like Johnny Depp, Mick Jagger or Amy Winehouse.

Who would have thought a film about food would bring a tear to my eye? But Florent was never just about the food. Both the owner and the eatery will always be remembered as quintessential examples of everything that’s exciting about New York City. Dancing the can-can, burlesque artists taking it off on the counter, tough talking waiters, a clientele ranging from senior citizens to rock ‘n’ rollers, Hollywood actors and tranny hookers.

The difference between Florent, born in the bowels of the Meat Market, and the current glut of restaurants and bars in the new Meatpacking District is that Florent the bistro really was chic and the new breed are wannabes. We will always need people and places like Florent—even if we can only get them on the big screen.