Jeff Tunks is a quiet guy. But get him talking about food and the process of developing dishes for Ceiba, opened in September 2003, and he is a veritable encyclopedia of information. We caught up with him soon after he returned to pump him for information on his research trips to the Yucatan and Brazil. As expected, we learned more than we could print here…and we left hungry for more, literally.  

The boys—Executive Chef Jeff Tunks, [former] Chef de Cuisine for Ceiba Chris Clime, and co-owners Gus DiMillo and David Wizenberg—hit the road in February 2003 for their first research trip. Their destination: the Yucatan. After one night in Cancun, it was on to Merida, where, thanks to the collaborative efforts of the Embassy of Mexico here in Washington and the Yucatan Tourism Commission, the boys were fortunate to have several contacts that made the trip very fruitful. In addition, Clime, who spent his teenage years in the town of Ceiba, Puerto Rico, is fluent in Spanish. 

DiMillo and Wizenberg spent their days in quarries hand-choosing the tiles that cover the foyer, the bar, and the restrooms. They also ordered custom-made guayaberas for Ceiba’s wait staff. A few decorative pieces were chosen to serve as accents throughout the restaurant, and terra cotta serving platters in many different shapes and sizes were also scooped up. Meanwhile, back in the kitchen…Chefs Tunks and Clime were mastering the quintessential local dish: Red Snapper Vera Cruz. Tunks explains that Vera Cruz is the busiest port in the country and that it is home to the most fertile fishing bank in the world, therefore the quality of seafood in the area is unsurpassed. We also got a history lesson when he reminded us that Mexico has been colonized longer than, say, Brazil, so it has a much more indigenous food culture. As a result, the capital of the Yucatan, Merida, is very European, so the Provençal/Spanish-style preparation of Red Snapper Vera Cruz should come as no surprise. Traditionally, the whole fish is covered in a sauce of tomatoes, onions, capers, Spanish olives, olive oil, and pickled jalapenos. It is slowly poached in the broth, resulting in a moist, delicately flavored dish. Of course, many other fish are prepared à la Vera Cruz, but snapper seems to be the most common. After tasting at least ten versions of some type of fish Vera Cruz, Tunks and Clime had a pretty good idea of what they would serve at Ceiba. “These trips provide a jumping off point for us. We like to go and sample as many local preparations of certain dishes as possible, then we start thinking of how we can make it our own,” says Tunks.  

Other regional dishes won over the chefs as well: Vera Cruz is known for its mariscos, or seafood cocktails with avocado and pico de gallo; and pompano baked in foil with white wine, onions, and hoja sante—the most widely used of the local herbs—served with a chili limon sauce of tomatillos, green chiles, and onions. The foil pouch is placed on a platter—some of which were purchased on the trip—and opened tableside. Pork Pibil, also a local favorite, features one of the key ingredients to the cuisine of Vera Cruz, achiote paste. Made from grinding annatto seeds and combining them with garlic and onions, achiote paste is most often used as a rub for pork and chicken, though it can be used in marinades as well. The traditional preparation of pork pibil is to rub a pork shoulder with the achiote paste, wrap it in a banana leaf, and cook it in the ground with coals. Many Latin American and Caribbean kitchens do their cooking on a plancha, which is a large, flat griddle cooking top that is used in place of a sauté pan. And plans to construct a plancha in the kitchen at Ceiba were underway before the trip ended. The plancha is key to the preparation of the grilled lobster tails indigenous to the cuisines of both Vera Cruz and Brazil. “Efforts are being made to be as authentic as possible. We still have to decide how we want to present the final product,” Tunks said. “That’s the challenging—and fun—part.”   

Important decisions were made on how to begin dinner, particularly the bread service, which the chefs planned to shake up a bit by offering shards of flatbread or tortillas brushed with chipotle lime butter and cumin seeds and baked ‘til crispy. These “Mexican breadsticks” are served with a purée of charred tomatoes, chiles, onion, and pumpkin seeds, the consistency similar to that of hummus. The end of dinner was decided as well, as the chefs sampled churros from carts in the zocalo, or town square, every night. The Mexican-style doughnuts are served with either chocolate, condensed milk, or cajeta, a thick, dark syrup or paste made from caramelized sugar and goat’s milk. Tunks ordered a special churros machine, which, mounted conveniently on a wall of the Ceiba kitchen, presses the dough and drops it directly in to a vat of hot oil.  As at his other restaurants, Tunks maintained the tradition of a small plate of friandises offered with the check. Ceiba’s decadent parting gift is clusters of caramel corn and peanuts.  

And what would any trip to Mexico be without tequila? Strictly for research purposes, of course, the boys sampled many different varieties, and resident wine expert David Wizenberg came home with two very rare bottles of tequila to be served at Ceiba. A very fruitful meeting with the tequila sommeliers (yes, we are serious—it is actually someone’s job!) at the Ritz-Carlton in Cancun gave the boys an idea for offering a “flight” of tequila, consisting of four tequilas of different ages and styles. Did we mention that they got stuck in sunny Cancun during the President’s Day weekend snowstorm? I hear tiny violins playing somewhere in the distance…not! And speaking of the bar at Ceiba…it is one of the hottest spots in town, with its signature margaritas, mojitos, caiphrinas, and Pisco sours. Professional-style juicers were purchased so that the bartenders are able to make their own juices for the specialty drinks, including pressing the sugar cane to extract the liquid gold that makes mojitos so tasty. 

The boys finally returned home, but soon they were off again—before their tans could fade—for yet another week or so of research, this time in Brazil. (At least they waited until Carnival was over!) Once again, food and furnishings were the focus, and the boys found just what they wanted. Brazil is known for its woods, and Sao Paolo is known for its design center. The tables, chairs, barstools, and the lounge seating for Ceiba were all purchased in Sao Paolo, just as the tableware, fabrics, and decorative accents for TenPenh were purchased on an extensive trip to Southeast Asia. Every effort has been made by the developers and designers to create an authentic atmosphere. Richly burnished wooden serving pieces were purchased in Sao Paolo, as well as several decorative accents to be displayed throughout the restaurant. 

Once the furnishings were taken care of, the boys headed to Salvador, which is the capital of Bahia in northern Brazil. Bahia has a large African culture, and many local dishes reflect that influence. One such example is feijoda. Traditionally prepared on Saturdays for the big family gathering, feijoda was a dish prepared by slaves with the leftovers that were sent down from the big house. The feet, ears, and tail of the pig were cooked down with beans, rice, and kale. Tunks loved this dish and offers his version of it at Ceiba, though with cuts of meat that are “a little less intimidating to an American audience.” Another regional dish is moqueta, which is a casserole of seafood, tomatoes, onions, peppers, coconut milk, and palm oil. Tunks and Clime begrudgingly agreed to don hair nets in more than one restaurant kitchen so that they could learn to prepare moqueta from scratch alongside local chefs. DiMillo and Wizenberg escaped such torture by fleeing to a local ceramic factory to purchase the dishes to be used for Ceiba’s tableside presentation of moqueta. 

Brazil’s famous cashew nuts grace the bar at Ceiba—how many of you knew that one little cashew nut grows in each shell on top of a fruit that resembles a shriveled yellow or green pepper? The fruit must be picked and the nutshell removed from the top of the fruit and roasted before you get the cashew nuts you see in the supermarket.  

The last two days of the trip were spent in Rio de Janiero, where the boys sampled the fare at several different churascerias, where all the cooking is done on an open pit. The large pieces of meat are removed from the pit, speared with long swords, and brought tableside, where the staff deftly slices the flavorful meat onto the waiting plate. Tunks explained that Brazilian cuisine generally does not employ sauces. Meats are rubbed with spices, and that combined with the slow grilling is what gives the meat its flavor. Tunks made plans to serve grilled beef—the deckel in particular, which is the outside cut of the ribeye—accompanied by an Argentinian chimichurri sauce. This dish is served tableside on a parilla, which is a wooden block base into which fits a cast iron grill pan. The grill pans are kept in the oven so that the meat arrives at the table still sizzling.   

Some say the only way to end a good meal is with coffee. Ceiba serves 100 percent Nicaraguan coffee. 

Have we piqued your interest? Then join us at Ceiba, where D.C.’s answer to Latin American and Caribbean cuisine comes to the Colorado Building at 14th and G. Polish up your samba shoes!