Chef Charles Phan 
The Slanted Door 

At the Winemaker Dinner, Chef Phan will serve: Banh Nam Rice Dumplings with Port, Dried Shrimp and Chive Oil

Born in Da Lat, Vietnam in 1962, Charles Phan and his family - parents and five siblings - left after the war in 1975 and relocated to Guam. It was from Guam that the Phans moved to San Francisco in 1977. Being of Chinese descent, the Phans settled in Chinatown.  Phan went to Mission High followed by the University of California,        

Berkeley, where, with his parents prodding, he studied architecture.

Nonetheless, Phan's passion for food was ever present. Tapping his design background, Phan's vision for his original restaurant, The Slanted Door, was to create a stylish ambiance for traditional Vietnamese cooking, keep an ingredient-driven menu that changed often and rely heavily on California eating savvy. Phan knew there was nothing in San Francisco that combined all of these elements within the Vietnamese category. Phan comments, “Many of my staff thought I was crazy. I refused to cut any corners, use any bottled sauces or the typical Vietnamese crutch, MSG.”

Phan proved through the phenomenal success of The Slanted Door that combining the Bay Area’s sensibility for fresh ingredients with Vietnamese time-honored cooking techniques is a perfect marriage. Eight years later, showcasing farm fresh, local products, preparing everything from scratch and keeping a limited menu has put The Slanted Door on the cutting edge of Vietnamese cuisine in San Francisco.