The underlying passion for cooking must start early on with most chefs, and that is certainly true of Anthony Chavez, who oversees the pastry kitchen at the stylish Falls Church restaurant 2941. Thanks to the initial training from his mother and his grandmother, this native Californian got turned on to cooking, then to fancy baking, as a child.
“My interest started at home. My grandmother was a great cook,” he says. “She made the food and I made the desserts. She also made a great lemon meringue pie and coconut cream pie.”
But he also pays tribute to his mother’s firm hand: She taught him knife skills when he was only 8 years old, and because she is Italian, she was always making ravioli, gnocchi and pasta sauces, he says. So it’s not hard to see how Chavez took so much interest in kitchen work.
“Even as a kid, I wanted to do pastries,” he says. “My mom thought I was a better at cooking than baking.”
A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Chavez began dreaming about pastries during his externship at Dean and DeLuca in Charlotte, N.C., and he went on to study pastry making at the French Pastry School in Chicago, learning from such well-known chefs as Sebastien Cannone, John Kraus, Stephane Glacier and Emmanuel Ryon.
This intensive work gave him a leg up in the pastry world. It gave him the credentials to work first at the Ritz-Carlton Chicago, where he wound up being the executive pastry chef, and then to move on as executive pastry chef at the Sofitel Chicago Water Tower — proving hard work and a sugary imagination do pay off. Now facing the challenge of creating and fine-tuning a sweets menu that changes often, Chavez says he works closely with the executive chef to find his sweet inspirations.
“I bounce ideas off him,” he says. “He and I have sort of the same vision of food. But I also read and pick up ideas from the staff.”
Preferring his desserts to highlight a fruit’s flavor and to not be overly sweet, Chavez regales the restaurant’s guests with plated desserts — his favorite way of presenting them — that meld savory technical ideas with artistic flair.
“These desserts require lots of creativity, and when done right, they are beautiful,” he says. “And I hope they taste great.”
Patrons may find such gustatory splendors as his chocolate quartet, a composition of a Jivara 40 percent chocolate tart, Guayaquil 64 percent chocolate cake, Caraibe 66 percent chocolate cremeux and a Tanzanie 75 percent frozen truffle. Chavez says he believes this chocolate lover’s fantasy has probably garnered the most raves — “I’m proud of all my desserts,” he says, but this one stands out. But who would not fall in love with his Meyer lemon petit gateaux with a milk chocolate dacquoise and coffee crème anglaise?
To an outsider, this all sounds like the stuff of sweet dreams. But for Chavez, the long kitchen hours and the exacting science required for successful patisserie art are all in the day’s work. As he concludes, “I love what I do.”
If you go
2941 Restaurant
2941 Fairview Park Drive, Falls Church
703-270-1500
Hours: Lunch — 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dinner —5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday-Friday; Dinner — 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Q&A with Chef Chavez
Do you cook at home?
I cook at home, but I do not bake at home. I get frustrated without all the tools and oven. I love seeing what a chef does, and I do that at home for [my wife].
What is your comfort food?
I love everything, but especially ice cream and chocolate.
What are you must-have ingredients?
Valrhona chocolate, bourbon vanilla beans, locally grown products, like a good fig. And King Arthur pastry flour — I use pastry flour for everything.
What was your luckiest culinary moment?
When I got the job [here]. I did a tasting. I flew in from Chicago, and the next day I made 10 desserts. It went off well. The chef rated it a 9 out of 10.
What’s in your fridge?
Milk, cheese, charcuterie, I don’t eat much at home. A jar of salsa, condiments. And deer meat in the freezer.
From the Chef’s Kitchen
Meyer lemon brioche with rhubarb confiture
Serves 6 to 8
For the best results, Chavez recommends that you use scales rather then converting the ingredients to the more familiar cup measurements. Both Meyer lemons and rhubarb are coming into season now, so spring is the right season to enjoy this elegant dessert.
If you cannot find fresh yeast, substitute dried yeast, but use half the amount of yeast called for. Note that you need to start this one day ahead of serving.
Although this dessert serves several, Chavez notes he could eat a whole brioche himself.
Meyer Lemon Brioche
5 1/4 oz. (151 grams) water
2/3 oz. (19 grams) fresh yeast
3 large eggs
Zest from 2 Meyer lemons or regular lemons
1 tsp (5 grams) vanilla extract
1 lb. (453 grams) all-purpose flour
4 oz. (113 grams) sugar
1/4 tsp (2 grams) plus 1 pinch sea salt
4 oz. (113 grams) butter
Day one
Combine the water, yeast, two eggs, lemon zest and vanilla in a mixing bowl.
Add the flour, sugar and salt. Using a dough hook attachment, mix on medium speed until the dough is smooth and shiny, about 8 minutes. Add half the butter and mix on low speed for 3 minutes. Add the remaining butter and mix on medium speed for 5 minutes. Place the dough into a bowl and allow it to rise until the dough has doubled in size. Press out the fermented gases in the brioche with your hand. Place the brioche into the refrigerator for two hours. Press out the fermented gases a second time. Place the brioche in a bowl, cover and refrigerate overnight.
Day two
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it into a standard loaf pan. Allow to rise in the warm oven for about two hours or until the dough has tripled in size. Remove from the oven and increase the temperature to 360 degrees.
Whisk the remaining egg and pinch of salt together. Brush the top of the brioche with the egg.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the loaf pan, and place onto a cooling rack.
Serve warm with the rhubarb confiture.
Rhubarb Confiture
9 oz. (250 grams) rhubarb, sliced
9 oz. (250 grams) vanilla sugar or plain sugar
1/2 oz. (15 grams) lemon juice
Day one
Combine the rhubarb and vanilla sugar in a pot. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil.
Remove from heat, wrap the pot with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Day two
Strain the juice from the rhubarb. Place the juice in a pot and cook until the juice has thickened and reads about 225 degrees on a candy thermometer. Add the rhubarb, simmer 3 to 5 minutes more, stir in the lemon juice and cool.
