El Siglo reports that Dominican Roberto Alvarez was chosen the Restaurant Owner of the Year, when 12,000 Washingtonians voted in a contest organized by the Association of Restaurants of Metropolitan Washington. He received the 1999 Capital Restaurant & Hospital Awards Gala prize during the ceremony held at the JW Marriot Hotel. Roberto Alvarez is the owner in Santo Domingo of the Caf? Atlantico. In Washington, he is the owner of Caf? Atlantico and Jaleo. Caf? Atlantico serves Caribbean cuisine, and Jaleo serves Spanish "tapas". Washingtonians spend an estimated US$2,832 per capita eating out, the second highest in the US.Roberto Alvarez studied law at the UASD in Santo Domingo, traveling to Washington for postgraduate studies at the George Washington University and John Hopkins University. Son of a lawyer and diplomat, his first job was at the Ministry of Foreign Relations in Santo Domingo from where he was sent to work at the Dominican Embassy in Washington in 1966. He returned to Santo Domingo and later secured a job in the protocol department of the OAS in Washington. When his brother returned to Santo Domingo with the idea of setting up a restaurant after 10 years in Europe, he joined him in the project, setting up the successful Caf? Atlantico in Santo Domingo. They took their experience to Washington where they set up the Caf? Atlantico, with an emphasis on Pan Caribbean food, and which turns into a place for dancing when the kitchen closes. This led to the Jaleo Restaurant in Washington, where 23 year old Spaniard Jos? Ram?n Andr?s, who worked under culinary maestros in Spain, is a partner.
