San Gabriel Valley
— — the valley that taught Los Angeles how to eat.
Not only on a wall.
“The valley spreads east from downtown, under the foothills, where mission bells once set the day's clock. Now the 626 hums with Sichuan stockpots, Taiwanese bakeries, and Vietnamese cafés along Valley Boulevard. San Marino estates rise toward the Huntington gardens; Monterey Park glows late. The mountains hold the northern edge, and the light comes in long and gold by four in winter.
San Gabriel Valley, on ceramic.
Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.
Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.
The place, in three passes.
The San Gabriel Valley runs east from the Los Angeles River to Pomona, a basin of about thirty-one cities tucked under the south face of the San Gabriel Mountains. Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded in 1771, anchors the older history; the area's modern character was shaped by waves of Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, and Mexican settlement through the late twentieth century. Alhambra, Monterey Park, Arcadia, San Marino, and Pasadena form the urban core, with Mount Wilson rising above at 5,710 feet.
Air in the valley is shaped by the wall of mountains to the north. Santa Ana winds spill down through Cajon Pass in autumn and clean the basin out; on those mornings the front range stands sharp enough to count the canyons. Other days the marine layer pushes east from the coast and settles low across the floor. Mount Wilson Observatory, at 5,710 feet, sits above most weather. The light through eucalyptus and jacaranda has a particular dustiness that west-siders never quite get.
The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino holds the Gutenberg Bible and one of the largest Chinese gardens outside Asia. The Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, founded 1771, sits four miles south. Food anchors most trips: Valley Boulevard runs east-west through Alhambra and San Gabriel with hundreds of regional Chinese restaurants, while Monterey Park and Rosemead carry Taiwanese, Sichuan, and Cantonese rooms. Pasadena's Old Town and the Rose Bowl handle the western flank of any weekend visit.