Cafe La Fortuna to Close Sunday

[TomClash]

I loved this place - an Upper West Side icon with out of this world Zuppa Inglese. Its demise is a very sad day. Screw landlords, Starbucks and other uppity, upscale, Repuke "coffee coteries."

Two deaths brought about the decision to close Cafe La Fortuna, a beloved three-decade-old cafe that drew John Lennon, Yoko Ono and other Upper West Side residents with its garden, opera music and Italian desserts.

The first death, a few years ago, was of the landlord, who had kept the rent for the space at 69 West 71st Street at a reasonable rate despite escalating real estate prices in the neighborhood.

The second death, in January, was of Alice Urwand, half of the husband-and-wife team that founded and owned the cafe. Her husband, Vincent Urwand, posted a large sign in the cafe window on Thursday announcing the closing of the cafe and saying, “With her a piece of me died.”

The death of the landlord led to a new landlord, who said the rent was going to jump to two and a half times what the cafe had been paying, said Michael Trapani, a family friend who later became one of the owners. “He just made it clear that the rate was going to be X amount of dollars,” Mr. Trapani said. “To survive, we would have had to charge $10 for a cup of coffee.”

The higher rent set off an internal debate, and sparked rumors of the demise of the cafe, which Mr. Urwand denied.

Then came the death of Ms. Urwand, 80, who was considered the heart and soul of the establishment. (The cafe was named in honor of her mother.) “The death of Alice, that kind of convinced us that it was over,” Mr. Trapani said.

The last day of business for the cafe, founded in 1976, is Sunday.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/nyregion/22cafe.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin