Famed Meatpacking Restaurateur Finds New Life in Bushwick

Florent founder Florent Morellet, energized by the scene in Bushwick, moved from Manhattan and into the condo-turned-rental CastleBraid apartments there, above, in September. Back in the day, he dressed in drag and promoted political causes at his celebrated 24-hour Meatpacking District restaurant, Florent, which opened in 1985. It recently closed because of escalating rent.

He is sick of hearing “everyone in Manhattan complaining about the way things used to be,” and was eager to escape the “naturally occurring retirement community” there, The New York Times reported. Bushwick “is very charged, with all the young people making art, making restaurants, they are forwarding ideas,” said his close friend Denise Dalfo. “In his life, he loves this, he feeds on this energy.”

He has no plans to open a restaurant there, he said, but he might do something — perhaps a bar or performance space. For now, he is enjoying the neighborhood, and helping out with a December fundraiser put on by EcoStation:NY:

He spends days scouting for new sneakers on Knickerbocker Avenue, watching the skateboarders in Maria Hernandez Park, buying stone crabs for $1.99 a pound at the Sea Town market on Linden Street and sampling fried pig’s ears and other Latin American street fare. Every experience is fresh for him. “It’s amazing. I just cry. I cry almost every day,” he said, tears dripping through his laughter.

Most interesting is his comparison of Bushwick now with bohemian New York of bygone days: “I found the New York that I love,” he told the Times. “It’s actually better than the one that I found when I came. It’s safer.”

Adieu, Manhattan; Bonjour, Bushwick [NY Times]
Photo by Nicholas Strini for PropertyShark