Charles Phan’s improbable rise to stardom in the culinary world is a Horatio Alger-like tale of a working class immigrant with supreme talent making it to the top of his profession. Phan was born in South Vietnam and fled the country with his parents when Saigon fell in 1975. After several years as refugees on Guam, they migrated to San Francisco, where Phan attended high school, took jobs waiting tables, and studied architecture at Cal. A home cook with virtually no formal training, he felt that Asian restaurants were stereotyped as cheap and uniform. So after trying several other professions, he followed his dream and opened the Slanted Door in 1996 in San Francisco’s Mission District. That restaurant was an instant hit. It has since moved to a panoramic space in the Ferry Building, but still emphasizes fresh, local, contemporary ingredients and aesthetics that reflect Phan’s interest in art and design. Sticky rice with sweet potato and shaking beef are among the favorite recipes included in The Slanted Door: Modern Vietnamese Food (Ten Speed, $40), as are the many exotic cocktails that Phan’s restaurants (he has several offshoots) have become known for. Phan is widely regarded as one of the most inventive and influential chefs in America and his new cookbook is a gorgeous and mouth-watering tribute to the modern Vietnamese cuisine he has put on America’s culinary map.