Ceiba – www.ceibarestaurant.com – This elegant Latin-inspired restaurant in the heart of the nation’s capital has been sizzling since it opened in September 2003.  Located in the historic Colorado Building on 14th and G Streets, it is just a stone’s throw from its popular sister restaurants, Acadiana, DC Coast, and TenPenh.  The name “Ceiba” pays tribute to the imposing umbrella-shaped tree found throughout the new-world tropics, and the menu is Contemporary Latin American, specifically Yucatan (Vera Cruz and Cancun), Brazilian (Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro), Peruvian, and Cuban.  Chef-owner Jeff Tunks and his partners made extensive research and buying trips to Brazil and the Yucatan, and it shows in the menu, the presentation, and the restaurant’s dramatic décor.    This sophisticated downtown spot has sure turned up the heat in Washington…. no wonder it was voted “Best New Restaurant” by the readers of Washingtonian magazine, and remains on the magazine’s Top 100 Restaurants list.