Could Florent resurface at the new Whitney in 2013? Whitney director Adam Weinberg, starting the public-review road show for Renzo Piano’s proposed 50,000-square-foot satellite museum at the High Line’s foot, told Community Board 2 last week of plans for a 100-seat “indoor-outdoor” restaurant. Owner Florent Morellet, who is closing his bistro after more than two decades of 24-hour service, is eager to license Florent’s “look, name, and menu.” Investors in Japan and Brazil have approached him about such an arrangement, he says, but short of a scuttled deal to run concessions at JetBlue’s JFK terminal, he’s gotten no other local calls. Weinberg is selling his architect and artist roster in his talks, but a Florent connection could give the new Whitney a needed dose of downtown cred. —Alec Appelbaum
Related: Chelsea Morning [NYM]
