Sweet rewards: 2941 chef started early, worked hard

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.”