A report from NBC Miami.
Felipe A. Valls Sr., businessman and the proprietor of Miami’s iconic Versailles Cuban restaurant in Little Havana, died Saturday on the age of 89.
The son of Felipe L. Valls and Dolores Bravo, Valls was born on March 8, 1933, in Santiago de Cuba. In 1947, his mother and father despatched him to the USA to attend highschool on the prestigious Riverside Navy Academy in Gainesville, Georgia.
Upon graduating in 1950, he returned to his hometown to start his journey as an entrepreneur.
Valls went on to personal a number of profitable companies, together with gasoline stations, a restaurant, and the favored Lido Supper Membership.
In 1960, at 27 years outdated, Valls fled his homeland along with his pregnant spouse Aminta Viso and their two different youngsters Leticia and Felipe, Jr. and shortly landed a job promoting used restaurant gear.
However the idea of bringing cafecito to the Cubans of Miami at all times stayed near his coronary heart.
It was on this job that he satisfied the proprietor of the corporate to lend him cash to import espresso machines from Italy and Spain.
Valls then acquired Badia’s restaurant in Little Havana and grew it into a preferred Cuban spot, which he later offered to boost cash to purchase the well-known spot the place he first opened Versailles in 1971.
Valls is the creator of Miami’s emblematic “ventanita” idea, a walk-up window serving Cuban espresso and pastries.
With greater than 2,000 workers, the Valls Group encompasses over 30 institutions, together with Versailles, La Carreta, Casa Juancho, MesaMar, and Casa Cuba, it additionally has a number of outposts at Miami Worldwide Airport serving thousands and thousands of vacationers.
The Valls Group will proceed to be headed by CEO & President, son, Felipe Jr., alongside along with his daughter, Jeannette Valls Edwards and granddaughters who’ve continued Valls’ legacy.
A staunch fighter for freedom and democracy in Cuba, Valls was a member of the Cuban American Nationwide Basis, the Cuban Liberty Council, and the US-Cuba Democracy PAC.
All through his life, he obtained a number of prestigious awards and accolades together with the Details About Cuban Exiles Award, the College of Miami Mambí Award, and the excellence of a portion of Miami’s Calle Ocho named Felipe Valls Method.
Valls is survived by his companion Natty Elias, his three youngsters, his 10 grandchildren and his great-grandchildren.
Visitation will happen on December 7 from 5-10 p.m. and December 8 from 1-10 p.m. at Caballero Rivero Funeral Dwelling at 3344 SW eighth Avenue in Miami.
A mass for the repose of the soul might be held on the Church of the Little Flower, date and time to be decided, adopted by burial at Woodlawn Park North Cemetery at 3262 SW 8 Avenue in Miami.
In lieu of flowers, the household requests donations to the Jackson Memorial Basis.