Enrique Limardo

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.