Founder of famed Slanted Door restaurants dies at age 62

Bay Area chef Charles Phan, pioneer of modern Vietnamese cuisine, dies

Charles Phan, the celebrated chef and founder of The Slanted Door, passed away at the age of 62 following cardiac arrest. Known for revolutionizing Vietnamese cuisine, Phan was a trailblazer in the culinary world. His impact extended beyond his dishes, inspiring chefs like Dominique Crenn and Tu David Phu to embrace innovation and hospitality in their own careers.

SAN FRANCISCO - Visionary and celebrated Bay Area chef Charles Phan, who founded The Slanted Door restaurants, has died.

On social media on Tuesday, his family and restaurant group announced, "It is with profound sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the unexpected passing," saying he had suffered cardiac arrest.

Phan was 62.

Big picture view:

The award-winning chef and cookbook author began with his first restaurant in San Francisco’s Mission District and expanded to four Slanted Doors, including one overseas in Beune, a town in France's Burgundy wine-making region.

The others are in Napa and San Ramon, with his San Francisco restaurant under remodel and set to open later this year.

He also opened a sandwich shop, Chuck’s Takeaway, in San Francisco on 18th Street.

Dig deeper:

Phan is credited with taking a pioneering and innovative approach to Vietnamese cuisine, creating fresh and modern dishes fused with Western and Vietnamese ingredients.

"The Slanted Door was born in 1995 with the goal of elevating Vietnamese food to the next level—modern design, sustainable local ingredients, quality teas, and wine pairings," the restaurant group said on its website.

The backstory:

A refugee from Vietnam, a young 13-year-old Phan arrived to the U.S. with his family in 1975.

The family ended up in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. It was 10 people living together in two small studios, Phan explained in a feature video posted by Asian Health Services in 2019.

"That was rough," he said. "Just feel like an outcast. Always insecure about everything, and I think where I built my confidence was when I started working, like 1978. I was like 9th grade."

That job was bussing tables at a restaurant.

Phan explained until then, because his family was so poor, he had never even stepped inside a restaurant.

He was the eldest of six children and his mother held two jobs, so his role in the family also led to him to finding his way through a kitchen with ease.

"He took on many responsibilities early in life, like cooking for the family, he learned Vietnamese cooking from his mom and aunt," his family shared, adding that his knowledge of "Western cooking" came from watching television.

Phan’s first venture began with an idea to open a Vietnamese crepe stand or noodle shop in the Tenderloin, according to the chain’s website, but he was told the neighborhood was already crowded with Vietnamese restaurants.

So he turned his search to the Mission District, where he was living, and he set out to bring to life a vision he had long held, hoping to try something new.

"I studied architecture and I liked design, and I always had this idea in my head for 10 years to design a modern Vietnamese restaurant," he said in the 2019 video. "And I just saw a niche, like why can’t there be a high-end Vietnamese restaurant? Why Vietnamese restaurants always have to be kind of a hole in the wall place?"

Timeline:

That idea inspired him to create the flagship Slanted Door on Valencia Street in 1995.

It quickly earned rave reviews and a loyal following. World-renowned San Francisco chef Dominique Crenn was one of his first customers.

"I’m telling you, every week we were sitting there, and it was my home away from home," recalled Crenn, who described his food as delicious. "But I also connected with him because I felt like if you can do it, I can also do it. And he also reminded me that, wow, this is the Alice Waters of San Francisco."

Crenn, who today runs San Francisco's 3-Michelin-starred Atelier Crenn, said Phan is a pioneer of San Francisco’s culinary scene.

"It’s always the good ones that leave… it’s very sad," said Crenn.

Over their 30-year friendship, he was consistently warm, inviting, and humble.

"Always had a smile on his face, the kindness of his heart," she said of his lasting impressions.

Crenn said she carries that same spirit of openness into her own restaurant, creating a welcoming environment for diners.

Phan's modern Vietnamese dishes and the upscale decor drew large crowds to the restaurant, and before long, the establishment outgrew its space.

So in 2002, the restaurant moved to the South of Market neighborhood.

"It was there that the team integrated a craft cocktail program, which was one of the first restaurants in San Francisco to offer craft cocktail menus," the restaurant group said.

In 2004, The Slanted Door moved again, this time to the San Francisco Ferry Building. That site closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, in what was initially planned as a temporary closure, but ultimately ended up being permanent.

Last year, Phan announced that the restaurant would not reopen at the Ferry Building site due to high renovation costs.

His death came as he prepared for a return "home," to its original San Francisco site.

The restaurant has been planning a much anticipated return to its original location at 17th and Valencia streets in the Mission, where it all began. It's set to open in the spring.

Phan's pioneering legacy is being remembered by not only his family and friends but those who got to experience his culinary talents.

What they're saying:

His family thanked the public for its support and asked for privacy during this time of loss. They called on the community to pay tribute to him this way: "Let’s honor Charles’ extraordinary life and legacy by keeping his spirit alive in the way we savor and share meals with one another—always family style."

And it's in those countless shared meals prepared by chef Phan, that his story lives on.

"Food is really about tradition and stories," he said. "And the customer not only, they get to eat it and enjoy it, but they get to learn a little history of who you are."

Chef Tu David Phu, who recently opened a Vietnamese-inspired wine bar in San Francisco called GiGi’s, credits Phan for inspiring his own culinary journey.

"He is this giant. He walks in a room and I get nervous," said Phu. "I stand on his shoulders to do what I do, he paved the road for me. He made it permissible to be experimental with Vietnamese food, he made it permissible to pair Vietnamese food with wine. That's exactly what GiGi's is."

Phu said he learned about Phan during culinary school, and was a big fan of his signature Shaking Beef dish.

"For that, I have such deep gratitude. The culinary world has such a deep loss. I felt like he had so much more to give," said Phu.