Restaurant Florent, a foot soldier in the gentrification of the Meat Packing District, has closed its doors, and with the removal of a single letter from the window, declared itself vacant. Alphabetical flourish is an appropriate goodbye for the 24-hour French restaurant as known for its matchbooks as its boudin noir. Tibor Kalman's bold typography and design was an important part of Florent's image, including an iconic 1985 menu which featured images culled from the Yellow Pages and matchbooks printed with the glossy images on the inside. Looks like New York Magazine will have to find a new stop number 10 on their Design Maven walking tour. [via Coudal.com]
