Celebrity Chefs

Executive Chef/Founder: The Slanted Door

Charles Phan is the inventor of modern Vietnamese cuisine in America and Executive Chef and Owner of the Slanted Door family of restaurants. 

Born in Da Lat, Vietnam, Charles Phan and his family immigrated to Guam before settling in San Francisco, California. As a young teenager, his curiosity for food began at home while watching his aunt cook and while exploring the vast food scene of San Francisco. Phan saw an opportunity to introduce American diners to the world of Vietnamese food with its robust flavors, subtle nuances, and approachability. That’s when he opened his first restaurant in 1995, Slanted Door, focused on fresh, local ingredients. 

Phan is known for combining Western and Vietnamese ingredients in breakthrough ways and was recognized as “Best Chef: California” by the prestigious James Beard Foundation. In the years that followed, Phan expanded his restaurant group, adding more culinary gems to Northern California’s dining scene, including the casual takeout spot Chuck’s Takeaway in San Francisco and restaurants in San Ramon and Berkeley.  

His ambitious spirit continues to drive him, with upcoming projects, including Slanted Door Napa and his first international venture, Slanted Door Beaune, France. 

Beyond the kitchen, Charles Phan’s influence extends to television appearances and the publication of two cookbooks: “Vietnamese Home Cooking” (2012) and “The Slanted Door” (2014). These books not only teach readers how to recreate his signature dishes but also share the inspiring narrative of his journey from refugee to celebrated chef. 

Phan has received numerous nominations and awards. Notably, in 2014 The Slanted Door was recognized by the James Beard Foundation as an “Outstanding Restaurant in America.” His books won the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) Cookbook Award for Chefs and Restaurants and for Photography, respectively. 

In his spare time, Phan is a leader in the San Francisco food community and has participated in countless charitable events with Share Our Strength, Meals on Wheels, CUESA, One Vietnam, La Cocina, Taste of the Nation, and many more. 

Chef Phan lives in San Francisco with his wife and their three children. 

Chef Ken Frank – La Toque

Since becoming a chef in the mid-1970’s, Ken Frank has earned a stellar reputation for his personalized style of cooking, grounded in the French cuisine he grew to know and love while living in France as a teenager. Frank first achieved national acclaim when he was Chef of La Guillotine Restaurant at age 21 in 1977. At that time, he was a pioneer, insisting on using only the freshest, seasonal, quality ingredients. He was the original Chef at Michael’s in Santa Monica, considered the Los Angeles birthplace of “California Cuisine,” which he left in 1979 to open the first La Toque on the Sunset Strip at age 23. After a 14-year run, Frank sold the original La Toque in 1994 and spent the next year working for The House of Blues. In 1996, he opened the award-winning Fenix at the Argyle Hotel. He finally heeded the call of the wine country and moved north to open a new La Toque in Rutherford in 1998. After a successful ten-year run in Rutherford, Frank moved his signature restaurant to the new Westin Verasa, Napa in the fall of 2008.  

La Toque within The Westin Verasa Napa is a showcase for Chef Frank’s modern French cuisine and his passion for fine wine. This “French chef in a California body,” as he likes to call himself, has pushed his cuisine in a more harmonious wine-friendly direction and the restaurant has become known for its savvy wine pairings. 

Chef David Shim – Michelin Star awarded COTE

A Seoul native, Shim began his culinary career as a line cook at Gramercy Tavern, followed by stints as chef tournant at Veritas, master cook at L’atelier de Joël Robuchon at the Four Seasons Hotel, and executive chef of Kristabelli. After working as chef de cuisine for M. Wells Steakhouse, Shim was approached by Simon Kim to open his dream Korean steakhouse, where he now runs two Michelin-starred kitchens in New York and Miami with the studied intensity of a center back.

Under his culinary leadership, COTE has earned numerous glowing accolades, including GQ’s Best New Restaurants in America, two stars from The New York Times and New York Magazine, Thrillist’s Best Steakhouses in America and a semi-finalist nod from the James Beard Foundation Awards for Best New Restaurant.

Aimee Olexy

One of the most recognized personalities in Philadelphia dining, Aimee has the ability to send the “fine-dining elite into effusions of breathless adjectives,” according to Philadelphia magazine. Her dynamic restaurant brand has evolved dramatically over the past 20 years, growing into a family of distinctive restaurants that celebrates food at its most elemental.  

Talula’s Table, her hybrid gourmet café and BYOB in Kennett Square, hosts nightly 12-person tastings, so incredibly coveted that it has been dubbed it “The Toughest Table in America.” Talula’s Garden, which Olexy opened in partnership with Stephen Starr in 2011, aims to capture a small-town sense of community on an ambitious downtown scale. Talula’s Daily, the bright and sunny café that opened next door in 2013, provides coffee, local artisanal groceries, fresh-baked breads and wholesome take-home meals in a space that transforms into a homey supper club by night. Olexy and Starr opened The Love in Rittenhouse Square in 2017.  

No matter where you’re dining, don’t be surprised if you catch Olexy tableside, rhapsodizing about her newest cheeses to groups of enchanted diners. “I work a lot and I love it,” says Olexy. “My work is who I am — and that is the only way I know to live.” 

Chef Chris Shepherd – James Beard Award-Winner

Midwest-raised, James Beard Award-winning Chef Chris Shepherd has helped change the landscape of the Houston culinary scene since opening Underbelly in 2012. Chef Shepherd was named one of the 10 Best New Chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2013 and was then awarded the 2014 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southwest. In 2019, all three of his restaurants—UB Preserv, One Fifth Mediterranean and Georgia James—nabbed the No. 1 spot on Texas Monthly‘s list of the Best New Restaurants in Texas, and Georgia James was included on GQ‘s list of the best new restaurants in America. He was a semifinalist for the James Beard Award for Outstanding Chef in 2019 and was named Robb Report‘s Chef of the Year the same year. Chris’ foundation Southern Smoke has distributed more than $7.7 million—both directly to people in the food and beverage industry in need via the Emergency Relief Fund and to organizations that represent the needs of people in the industry.

Chef Craig Strong – Ocean at Main

Chef Casey Thompson – Top Chef

Chef Andrew Sutton – Napa Rose, Disneyland Resort

Chef Amar Santana – Broadway, Laguna Beach

Chef Azmin Ghahreman – Sapphire Culinary Group

Chef David Slay – Park Avenue Restaurant