Our Cookbook of the Week: The Slanted Door

Yahoo Food’s Cookbook of the Week: The Slanted Door (Ten Speed Press)

The Team: Vietnam-born chef Charles Phan, who owns the Slanted Door family of restaurants in California. Phan was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s Who’s Who of Food in America in 2011. Photographer Ed Anderson, who also shot baker David Lebovitz’s cookbook, My Paris Kitchen.

The Restaurant: The Slanted Door in San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building. It’s one of the city’s most beloved restaurants, and it’s a critical favorite, too: the James Beard Foundation awarded it the title of Outstanding Restaurant in 2014.

The Cuisine: It’s inspired by Phan’s native Vietnam, but is executed with a modern twist. Think Fisherman’s Stew made with lemongrass and bean sprouts, and silver tapioca pearls surrounding a dollop of coconut-lime sorbet. 

Who Should Buy It: Those whose mouths water when they smell ginger, fresh herbs, and fish sauce. Those who love a story of a successful chef who rose from humble beginnings (Phan writes an emotional, mini memoir-like introduction to the book). 

Who Shouldn’t: Those who bristle at the thought of squid or cold rice noodles.

Must-Make Recipes: Cheesecake with Walnut Cookie-Brown Butter Crust, Spring Rolls, Chicken and Watercress Soup, Dungeness Crab with Cellophane Noodles.

Noteworthy: We’d buy this book for the cocktail section alone. The drinks—Singapore Sling, Hot Buttered Rhum Cider, Royal Pimm’s Cup—are beautiful, and the Slanted Door’s list of necessary equipment is straightforward and obtainable. 

More Cookbooks of the Week:
Tyler Florence’s Inside the Test Kitchen
At Home in the Whole Foods Kitchen
Ina Garten’s Make It Ahead