This week on Chefs Story, Charles Phan, owner and executive chef of The Slanted Door in San Francisco, joins host Dorothy Cann Hamilton for a conversation about Charles special memories, beliefs, inspirations, and passions of his craft. Charles Phan was born in South Vietnam, but when his homeland fell to the Vietcong, he and his family moved briefly to Guam and then settled in San Francisco. In 1995, Phan opened The Slanted Door, a restaurant that broke the mold of the run-of-the-mill ethnic joint. The Slanted Door was an immediate success and has continued to garner praise from restaurant critics across the country. In 2004, Phan won the coveted James Beard Award for Best Chef: California, and has since then garnered success and popularity from critics and food professionals all over the world. Find out more about the interesting story behind chef Charles Phan on todays episode of Chefs Story! This program has been sponsored by Fairway Market. I went to UC Berkley to study architecture. My first class changed my way of looking at the world, and how to solve problems. [19:30] When your back is against the wall, and you have nothing else, you just do what you can. [44:10] -- Charles Phan on Chefs Story