SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The community is remembering legendary San Francisco Chef Charles Phan of Slanted Door.

The 62-year-old chef died over the weekend after having a heart attack.

For decades, he’s been a pillar of the restaurant community.

Supporters say Slanted Door elevated Vietnamese cuisine to a national level after opening in 1995.

The death of celebrated Chef Charles Phan is hitting Bay Area chefs hard.

Many chefs say Phan was a visionary and a trailblazer.

“He really inspired lot of chefs in Bay Area,” said Chef Hoss Zare.

At Fang Chinese Restaurant near Moscone Center, Chef and Owner Kathy Fang appreciates what Phan has done.

“He really paved the way for all of us,” said Fang. “He created a modernized elevated version of it and won awards and won a lot of accolades for a cuisine that I feel is often times misunderstood. And that’s the case for a lot of Asian cuisine.”

Peter Fang, owner of House of Nanking, knew Charles Phan. “This news for me really hurt,” said Fang. He said Phan had eaten at his restaurant and Fang had eaten at Phan’s establishment.

“He was one of my best friends. He’d been here for a long time.”

The Slanted Door Restaurant was at the Ferry Building for more than 15 years. The restaurant and the chef had a lot of fans.

“I remember coming specifically to the Ferry building. It was always yummy and delicious,” said Marla Simon, a former Bay Area resident about Slanted Door. “Everything you ate (was delicious)– garlic glass noodles.”

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Ferry Building officials shared this statement on Tuesday saying:

“Chef Phan’s innovative approach to Vietnamese cuisine and his commitment to sustainable, locally sourced ingredients created a dining experience that shaped the Ferry Building’s legacy as a culinary destination.”

“It’s really sad to hear– a legend in our game of someone who elevated Vietnamese food and just the dining scene in San Francisco,” said Chef Matthew Ho with Bodega SF, a Vietnamese Restaurant on Mason Street. “It was really cool to see and how he’s grown his restaurant and to be able to move into such an iconic building like the Ferry Building as well.”

Phan came to the U.S. from Vietnam at the age of 13 and was a self-taught chef. He won several big awards–including the James Beard Award for Best California Chef in 2004.

“He’s one of the big giants. I stand on his shoulders to get to where I am today,” said Chef Tu David Phu with Gigi’s, a Vietnamese-inspired wine bar in San Francisco.

“The road that he has built– not just for myself, but for other young culinary chefs in the industry, the Vietnamese culture, Asian American culture, brown people, people of color– the success he’s achieved, and the things he contributed in that space…we’re not going to see that for a long time. I thank him and his family, not just for the Bay Area, but also for Vietnamese cuisine.”

Renowned chefs across the Bay Area are remembering phan.

Chef Casey Thompson who was a contestant on Top Chef posted this:

“You will be missed. Memories of what you created will not be forgotten.”

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Chef Hoss Zare, a celebrated San Francisco-based chef and lead operational training executive chef at Bon Appétit at Google, said he has lost a dear friend.

“We had many meals together,” said Zare. “His personality, added to culinary skill, what he established as a legacy in the Bay Area, is a blueprint for us to follow,” said Zare.

Charles Phan– a well-loved and well-respected chef –who many say exemplified the true American dream.

SAN FRANCISCO – A new analysis ranked San Francisco as the number one, most popular U.S. vacation destination for 2025.  

The global car rental and travel site SIXT conducted its research by analyzing Google travel search trends.

What we know:

San Francisco had the most searches, with more than 2.7 million hits.  

“San Francisco topping the list of 2025 travel destinations comes as no surprise—it’s a city that perfectly blends culture, innovation, and iconic landmarks, making it a must-visit for travelers worldwide,” said SIXT Director of Communications Joseph Gerbino.

Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming (and extending into Montana and Idaho) and the Grand Canyon in Arizona came in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively.

Yosemite National Park also made the list. 

“Yosemite National Park, ranked as the seventh most popular travel spot, highlights the natural beauty that’s just a few hours drive away from the city,” Gerbino said.

California was the most represented state on the list, with two other cities named among this year’s top U.S. destinations.

San Diego came in 9th, and Anaheim, home to Disneyland, was ranked 12th.

San Francisco also ranked by Tripadvisor  

San Francisco was also ranked in another, more comprehensive analysis– one by Tripadvisor, which analyzed thousands of reviews shared by its global community of travelers.

The site’s annual “Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best Destinations” listed the City by the Bay as the 7th must-visit city in the U.S. this year. 

New York City (1), Hawaii’s O’ahu (2), and Las Vegas (3) topped that list.  

San Francisco also made Tripadvisor’s best food destinations rankings, coming in 10th place after San Diego. 

The site noted that travelers across the globe were “most excited” about the culinary offerings as part of their vacationing experience.  

New Orleans, Charleston, S.C., and New York City were named the top three best for food destinations.

Dig deeper:

The Travelers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best Destinations also identified the top “trending” vacation spots in the world, which was Osaka, Japan.

In the U.S., it was West Palm Beach, Florida.

And to mark its 25th anniversary this year, Tripadvisor named the top travel destination of the last quarter-century.

London took the crown, with the capital U.K. city also being named as 2025’s top must-visit destination in the world.
 

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — One person is in jail in connection to a Sunday night multi-vehicle accident that killed a man and his dog in San Francisco.

At least seven people were taken to the hospital after at least seven cars were damaged.

Person and dog killed, several hurt in San Francisco multi-car crash, authorities say

“All of a sudden I hear sounds of explosions like I thought we were getting bombs dropped on us,” Aki Star said.

He is describing the multi-vehicle accident scene at 6th and Harrison. Star took video showing the wrecked cars as emergency crews were arriving.

“After the first impact it was multiple like, boom pow pow boom boom, it was unbelievable so I was like, ‘What the heck is going on?’” Star said. “So I immediately ran outside and came right around the corner and saw the devastation. I saw all the cars and smoke starting to come out of the cars and I heard moans and screams and crying coming out of the cars.”

The wife of the man who died was at the scene Sunday night and in tears over what happened.

A Waymo vehicle waiting at the stop light was hit from behind and had extensive damage. A Waymo spokesperson sent a statement Sunday saying that a car two vehicles behind the Waymo was hit by a speeding car going 98 miles per hour, which caused a chain reaction crash. Police haven’t confirmed that speed but witnesses reacted.

“For the noise to be that loud the car must have been traveling 90 or close to 100 miles per hour,” Star said.

Jail records show that a person is being held on vehicular manslaughter, vandalism, and speeding. Also, CHP says they responded to a hit-and-run accident on 280 just prior to the crash here. While that second case hasn’t been officially linked, both incidents involve a black Tesla.