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Alfonso L. Londoño 1946 - 2021

Alfonso L. Londoño Sr. of New York United States was born on March 19, 1946 in Colombia.. He was married to Olga Londoño, and they were together until Alfonso's death on July 22, 2021. Alfonso Londoño had a child Nathaly Londoño Velilla.

Alfonso L. Londoño Sr.

New York United States

March 19, 1946

Colombia.

July 22, 2021

New York, United States

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Alfonso L. Londoño Alfonso Londoño (1946 - 2021)

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Alfonso L. Londoño Sr.'s History: 1946 - 2021

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Introduction

Alfonso L. Londoño was an extremely talented restauranteur. He owned the Cavalier Restaurant in Jackson Heights where he served continental cuisine for many delightful years. The restaurant had sophisticated entertainment and a very active bar with a friendly bar tender, but Alfonso was a truly memorable host who knew everybody by name.
03/19

1946

Birthday

March 19, 1946

Birthdate

Colombia.

Birthplace

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Professional Career

THE NEW YORK TIMES Queens Is Losing Hangout It Has Loved Since 1950 Nathaly Velilla helps her father, Alfonso Londoño, operate the Cavalier. After a Super Bowl party, the restaurant will close. By Fernanda Santos Feb. 4, 2010 “Have you seen Colorado?” Rocco Ortiz asked the bartender at the Cavalier Restaurant and Lounge around lunchtime on Wednesday. The bartender promptly told him that the man known within the restaurant’s walls as Colorado does not come by on Wednesday afternoons because that is when he does his laundry. Among the regulars at the Cavalier, and the place has amassed a sizable following since it opened its doors in 1950 in Jackson Heights, Queens there is very little about personal lives and daily routines that are not shared. Marilyn Ortiz (no relation to Rocco) once showed up with a toothache, and a fellow patron suggested she take a swig of Bushmills, the Irish whiskey, and spit it out in a cup to numb the pain. When Jackie Hughes died last month, there was a party for her at the restaurant after the funeral. The Cavalier is a throwback to an era when men and women donned hats and gloves along 37th Avenue. It is closing its doors for good on Sunday, but not because time has passed it by. To attract a younger crowd, it added flat-screen televisions, Wi-Fi access, and satellite radio during renovations in July, although red linens and candles still adorn the tables. The end came in much the same way as scores of small businesses in gentrifying neighborhoods throughout the city: a new landlord arrived and charged rent so high that the owners simply could not hold on. “We have no other choice,” said Alfonso Londoño, who bought the restaurant in the early 1970s and has run it with his wife and daughter since. To regulars, the Cavalier Restaurant and Lounge, on 37th Avenue in Jackson Heights, is “the living room.” There are four other stores in the building that the Cavalier occupies, a squat rectangle of the blond brick facade on 37th Avenue between 85th Street and 86th Street, in the neighborhood’s historic district. The butcher, hair salon, and shoe shop have already closed, all of them victims of the same predicament that sealed the Cavalier’s fate. An accounting office that has been there for over 30 years is set to shut its doors soon. The neighborhood is abuzz over whether a chain store might replace them. The Cavalier has been an inclusive institution, hosting Lions Club meetings, political victory parties, senior center dances, and the annual breakfast before the Queens gay pride parade. And it has always been a family business: Mr. Londoño, who is Colombian, bought it from an Italian family, and its founders were brothers whose origin Mr. Londoño said he did not recall. Louis Armstrong, who lived nearby in Corona, sipped cocktails at the bar, and Tony Bennett came by once long ago after performing at a nearby club. The Cavalier has an eclectic menu with offerings like chicken with dumplings, guacamole and Buffalo wings, and it occasionally features specials with 1950s prices, like chopped liver for $1.50. The small staff is almost all Latino. Regulars are mostly over 40 and they call the place “the living room.” Ms. Ortiz, 45, has been a customer since she moved to the neighborhood in 1986. Mr. Ortiz, 50, has been going there since he moved across the street about 12 years ago. John Mellett, 61, who was sipping a Miller High Life at the bar on Wednesday, has been a patron for 43 years and said that Ms. Hughes had been going there for about as long when she died. Gloria D’Amato, 80, who has been a patron for 58 years, looked incredulously at a note taped to the board listing the specials, announcing the closing, and lamented, “These old-timers who have come here for companionship all these years, where are they going to go?” Mr. Londoño said he did not know, and he does not seem to have time to dwell on it anyway. He has been busy taking inventory: 12 booths, 4 silk trees, a pair of bronze horses, and an iPod are among the items. It is all going into storage, perhaps for good. The events that prompted the Cavalier’s closing happened so fast, he said, he has had no time to think about the future. Image Mr. Londoño, who has owned the Cavalier since the early 1970s, said he did not know what he would do after the closing. He told his daughter Nathaly Velilla last weekend that he would close the place, after learning that his monthly rent would double; he declined to specify the amount. The Cavalier had operated from the same spot for so long it had not had a lease for years, and Mr. Londoño said that he would have had to come up with a hefty security deposit to sign one. Ms. Velilla notified the workers on Monday. On Tuesday, she e-mailed the restaurant’s most loyal customers, who forwarded the message to friends, who then forwarded it to others until the whole neighborhood seemed to know. All day on Wednesday, people filed in and approached Mr. Londoño’s perch at the bar, greeting him as one would greet someone who had just lost a dear relative. “Of all the restaurants here, this was the only good one. I’m sorry,” Graciela de Campos, 70, who has dined at the Cavalier for 39 years, told him. The phone rang all afternoon. People offered their sympathies and made reservations for the remaining days. Bill Valicenti will be on the piano on Saturday. On Sunday, there will be a Super Bowl party with a free buffet during halftime. “Then,” Mr. Londoño said, “we’ll say goodbye.”
07/22

2021

Death

July 22, 2021

Death date

Covid.

Cause of death

New York United States
Death location

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Alfonso L. Londoño lived 75 years longer than the average family member when died at the age of 75.

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9 Memories, Stories & Photos about Alfonso

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/21/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño Close-up

Relaxing at home.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/12/2023

Jim and Amanda at Niagara Falls.

Alfonso also loved the Falls and we talked about them in front of Jim.
Jim Blanchard didn't see Niagara Falls until he was in his 80s but he fell in love with them. He wanted to go back there so we went. I went over to a man who organized tours and said, "I'll give you a hundred dollars if you take us to Toronto." He said, "I'll do it for fifty! I will pick you up at your hotel in an hour and drop you off at a cheap hotel in Toronto." Jim looked at me and said, "You perform miracles! I've never been to Toronto." He loved the SHOE MUSEUM and the Italian Restaurants and the Lake.
Look at the big smile on his face. He was so happy.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

He laughed so hard his eyes were spurting tears.

I went over to Alfonso and said, "I'm pretty psychic and I had that nightmare you had a terrible flood. There was water everywhere. You better check your pipes."

Alfonso checked his pipes in the restaurant and they looked satisfactory to him.

Around this time, my companion Jim and I had gone to Niagara Falls twice because Jim absolutely loved the Canadian side of the Falls.

Alfonso said he loved to go there too and check out the casino.

A few weeks later he came over to our table.
"I was up in Canada and I had this terrible nightmare that we had a horrible flood!
Water everywhere.
My wife said, "You're having that crazy woman's nightmare? Go back to sleep!"

"When I got HOME . . . there was this huge flood!
There was water everywhere!
It wasn't the restaurant! It was my house!"
We both convulsed into hysterics.
We laughed until we had to wipe our eyes.

Comments

Daniel Pinna

10.5k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Awesome memory! It's cool to see the photos of the restaurant and you visiting Niagara. It's not weird to see things...you're not a crazy woman. :)

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Alfonso L. Londoño and Nathaly and Olga.

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño and Nathaly and Olga.

Smiling and posing at Christmas in their plaid pajamas. Mom and Dad and their gorgeous daughter Nathaly.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño

Alfonso, Nathaly and Olga.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño

The Cavalier Restaurant.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Olga and Alfonso L. Londoño

The happy couple who ran The Cavalier restaurant.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño

They made you feel like family.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

Comments

Amanda S. Stevenson

17.8k+ favorites

03/10/2023

Alfonso L. Londoño

Alfonso was never too busy to have a chat with the diners. He was extremely erudite and had a wonderful sense of humor.

Date & Place: Not specified or unknown.

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Alfonso Londoño's Family Tree & Friends

Alfonso Londoño's Family Tree

Parent

Alfonso L. Londoño Mar 19, 1946 - Jul 22, 2021

Partner

Child

Sibling

Marriage

Olga Londoño