Chef Enrique Limardo and Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger opened their first concept in 2019, a vibrant Latin American hotspot called Seven Reasons. Seven Reasons became the first of many restaurants in Seven Reasons Group, a Washington, DC based restaurant group commitment to bringing the fun back to fine dining.
Seven Reasons quickly showed the group's culinary excellence, becoming Esquire's #1 Best New Restaurant in the Country and The Washington Post's #1 Restaurant in DC that same year. They followed up Seven Reasons with Imperfecto in 2022, a restaurant inspired by the intersection between the Mediterranean & Latin American cultures. Imperfecto also landed on that coveted Esquire list and received the group's first MICHELIN star, making Chef Enrique the first Venezuelan MICHELIN-starred chef in the US and only the second ever in history.
The group has grown rapidly since then, adding four more concepts to their roster including upscale Spanish and Latin restaurant, TheSaga.
They've earned countless accolades along the way including Chef Enrique's semifinalist nomination for Best Chef Mid-Atlantic from the James Beard Foundation in 2023, closely followed by Ezequiel's 2023 Washington Business Journal's 40 Under 40 recognition.
In 2023 Seven Reasons Group was named the 8th Fastest Growing Company in the DC Region by the Washington Business Journal achieving a 123.6% average growth for the past two years.
Our Founders
Ezequiel Vazquez-Ger / Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Ezequiel Vázquez-Ger is an Argentine entrepreneur, Chief Executive Office of Seven Reasons Group and co-owner and Managing Partner of Seven Reasons, Imperfecto, Joy by Seven Reasons, Quadrant at the Ritz-Carlton, TheSaga at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington D.C., and Surreal, with additional concepts coming in 2024.
Ezequiel gained national acclaim in 2019 when he opened Seven Reasons alongside Chef Enrique Limardo, which garnered national attention in 2019 at Esquire's Best New Restaurant in the Country, The Washington Post's #1 Restaurant in Tom Sietsema's Dining Guide, and one of the 40 Most Influential Restaurants of the Decade by Esquire.
In 2021, Ezequiel opened Imperfecto alongside Chef Enrique Limardo, a fine-dining establishment which also landed on Esquire's list of the best new restaurants in the country. Imperfecto also received its first Michelin star for its Chef's Table experience in 2022. In 2022 and 2023, Ezequiel landed on Washington Business Journal’s competitive Power 100 List. In June 2023 he was named in the 2023 edition of the Washington Business Journal's 40 Under 40 list.
He's also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) and a Member of the Board of Directors of The Orchestra of the Americas Group.
Prior to becoming a restaurateur in his opening of Seven Reasons, Ezequiel led his own Public Affairs firm, focusing on Latin America until 2017. He represented a wide range of clients from the U.S. and Latin America, ranging from big media conglomerates to human rights defenders. He was also a Steering Committee member of the Young Professionals of the Americas, an initiative of the Council of the Americas.
In 2016, he was named one of the 40 under 40 Latinos in foreign policy by the Huffington Post. He was a regular contributor to the newspaper El País (Spain), and his opinion columns have been also published by several top media outlets such as Foreign Policy, The Hill, The Huffington Post, Miami Herald, and other news outlets.
Between 2010 and 2013 he was an Associate Director at Otto Reich Associates LLC, a consulting firm headed by former US Ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Otto J. Reich; and a Latin American Fellow at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization connecting a global network of more than 400 think tanks in over 80 countries.
Ezequiel graduated as an Economist from the Universidad Católica Argentina (Buenos Aires, Argentina), in 2010. He lives in Washington, DC with his wife Mafe, his son Francisco, and his daughter Alma.
Enrique Limardo / Co-Founder & Chief Culinary Officer
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Enrique Limardo, is Chief Culinary Officer of Seven Reasons Group, in Washington, DC. He is Co-Owner & Executive Chef at Seven Reasons, DC’s Best Restaurant (Washington Post, 2019), and the Best New Restaurant in the Americas (Esquire, 2019), as well as Co-Owner and Executive Chef at Imperfecto (1 Michelin Star, 2022) in Washington, DC.
The Michelin-starred chef is commonly credited as the pioneer of modern Venezuelan cooking in the United States. When Enrique fled violence in his country and came to the US on an Exceptional Talent Visa in 2014, he brought culinary techniques that were brand new to the States with him.
Limardo’s inventive Latin-inspired fare has earned local and international accolades, most recently during his stint from 2014 to 2019 as the Executive Chef at Alma Cocina Latina, in Baltimore, Maryland. “Alma” was acclaimed by Washington Post food critic Tom Sietsema with a rating of 3.5/4 stars, making it one of the highest ranked restaurants in the Washington area. In 2009, Chef Limardo was named best chef in Venezuela by the Venezuelan Gastronomy Academy, and in 2016 he was named the best chef in Baltimore by Baltimore Magazine.
Chef Limardo began his gastronomic studies in 1997 in Venezuela at the cooking school La Casserol du Chef and continued studying in Spain at the EUHT Sant Pol de Mar in Barcelona, and at the Luis Irizar Culinary School in San Sebastián, Basque Country. While preparing a post-graduate degree in culinary arts, he had the privilege to learn from and work alongside some of Spain’s most distinguished chefs including Michelin-star greats Joan Roca, Ramon Freixa, Xavier Pellicer, Joan Pique, and Carles Gaig, among others. Chef Limardo was subsequently appointed as the Sous Chef of Mas de Torrent Relais & Chateau, an exclusive vacation property in Spain.
Following his time in Spain, Chef Limardo worked with British chef Paul Owens at The Cliff in Barbados and served as a chef adviser at several high-end restaurants in Caracas, Venezuela while cementing his success as the owner of Paprika and Yantar, two of the most acclaimed restaurants in the city of Caracas. Before moving to Baltimore to assume his role as Executive Chef at Alma, Chef Limardo spent four years traveling to and cooking in worldly destinations around the world as a private chef. A man of many talents, Chef Limardo is also an accomplished painter, artist and musician, and even recorded a rock album in his younger years.
Our Team
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Héctor García Artiles
Partner & Chief Operating Officer
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José Ignacio Useche
Partner, General Director & Executive Chef
Seven Reasons
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Rene Gonzalez
Partner, General Director & Executive Chef
Imperfecto
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Eric Du
Director of Operations
Seven Reasons Group
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Carlos Boada
Beverage Director
Seven Reasons Group
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Genesis Flores
Executive Pastry Chef
Seven Reasons Group
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George Karmires
Director of Events
Seven Reasons Group
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Maritza Rondon
Marketing Associate
Seven Reasons Group
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Paul Torres
Director of Outreach
Seven Reasons Group
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Orlin Bonilla
Executive Chef
Seven Reasons
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Maurizio Arberi
General Manager
Imperfecto
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Mile Montezuma
General Director & Executive Chef
The Saga & Quadrant
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Rafael Dolande
General Manager
The Saga & Quadrant
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William Morles
Executive Chef
Joy by Seven Reasons
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Amber Potter
General Manager
Surreal
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Luis González
Executive Chef
Surreal
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Barbara Whettel
Executive Pastry Chef
Surreal