One Friday night, Alfredo Ordonez met for dinner with a buddy of his. No reservations, of course, the two men waited patiently for a couple of seats at the bar. Ten minutes or so later, they gave up and decided to sit at Bonefish Grill’s coveted community table instead. That table sat about thirty-some other folks who also failed to call ahead. They made the best of it and took the first two spots that popped up. Had they picked any other chairs, the following story would end a lot less interestingly. A couple of ladies who sat in the chairs nearby struck up a conversation with the men and kept them entertained. The ladies happened to be in town visiting a friend… the pretty bartender, to be exact. After learning that Al was from South America, they insisted that he meet Cynthia. Her family, after all, was from Chile! An introduction was soon made, and within just a few minutes, Al and Cynthia were conversing in Español. I guess there is a reason they call Spanish a romance language! At one point, they decided it would be fun to organize some private Salsa Dancing classes with a group of friends. The rest of the story is pretty evident.  “I guess you could say we danced our way into each other’s hearts”, is how Al explains it.

 

The couple sometimes still reminisce about those Latin beats that made them fall in love. However, now they listen to them over good red wines and killer meals that Cynthia (not only an ex-bartender, but also an amazing chef) often prepares for their family of four. Their daughter Paloma, a six-year-old Southside Elementary School student, often interrupts her parents’ dinner music with something a little cooler. A DJ, some might say, she has an original playlist of over fifty songs that she has created on Spotify all by herself! Her three-year-old little sister, Valentina often sings along. All bets are off when the playlist is turned on in the car, though. That is when all four sing along altogether, of course, loudly and admittedly out of tune!

 

Alfredo was born in the Bronx and raised in West Palm Beach. A Florida State grad, he earned a double major in Finance and Real Estate. He has owned and operated a financial planning practice for over a quarter of a century now and was recently named one of the Top 100 Advisers in Florida by Forbes Magazine! Cynthia was born in Miami and raised here in Sarasota. She completed a Mass Communications degree at the University of Southern Florida, which she used as a Photo Producer for a nationally recognized fashion photographer, as well as a Photo Producer/Editor for Feld Entertainment. Now Cynthia spends the entirety of her time raising their young girls.

 

“We like to bring the girls to Island Park or The Bay for picnics. We bring a large blanket, and Cynthia loads us up with cheese, crackers, fruits and hummus. It’s nice to be able to let them play while enjoying the view. Sarasota really is a special place. We eat out almost every weekend and some of our favorites are Mediterraneo, Veronica’s, Osteria 500, Origins and now Lucky 8, please try the muffuletta.  We have also had fun spending three out of the last six years in Italy, with our favorite trip being the several weeks we spent in the Puglia region. We enjoyed small coastal towns, delicious food and some amazing Primitivo wines. We were in awe of how beautiful Matera, one of the oldest cities in the world still is. We stayed in a three-bedroom, two-story cave that dates back over 8,000 years. Traveling the world with our girls is not only fun for us, but also very educational for them. Both are bilingual. Learning about world history and culture from experience, rather than a textbook, is invaluable”, Al said.

 

While the family has no actual pets, they have adopted their own pet nicknames for each member of the family. They call dad ‘Pupi’, Spanglish for puppy.  Mom is ‘Meow’, since she is obsessed with cats. Paloma is ‘Monkey’ since she is so silly, and Valentina is ‘Little Bear’ since she is so cuddly! After a fun or long day, the family often plays a creative game at the dinner table called “Wow-Pow-Chow”. They take turns describing: 1) “Wow”, their favorite parts of the day, 2) “Pow”, what could have gone better, and 3) “Chow”, the favorite foods of the day! Al added, “We have recently added a 4th part called ‘Meow’ where we share our favorite time with mommy that day.” In other words, now it’s called “Wow-Pow-Chow-Meow”!

 

They built their beautiful, modern home on Waldemere Street from scratch, and moved in at the end of 2019, just a few months before the world was transformed by COVID. Their favorite part of the neighborhood is the kind and interesting people they have met from diverse backgrounds.

 “Our family has a deep faith in God, and we feel very blessed in so many ways”, Alfredo said.  “We try to live by the creed of ‘an attitude of gratitude’. When we realize how rich our lives are (health, family, laughter, etc.) it’s hard to have a bad day.”