This Saturday morning LA Weekly restaurant critic Jonathan Gold will be giving a talk, “The Rise of Regional Cuisines in the San Gabriel Valley,” at the Los Angeles Central Library's Mark Taper Auditorium. The talk is presented by the Culinary Historians of Southern California, a not-for-profit organization that supports the culinary collections at the Los Angeles Public Library.

The San Gabriel Valley is home to the largest Chinese population outside of Asia, and has hundreds of restaurants featuring the cuisine of many of the regions of China. And, as anyone who reads Gold's columns knows, those eateries are a favorite haunt of our restaurant critic.

“I'm making it a personal journey instead of a set-in-stone history,” says Gold. And since the lecture is at the happy hour of 10:30 a.m., this leaves the afternoon for an eating tour of the region, which is a short drive from the library. Doubtless you will be hungry. Chung King, one of Gold's acknowledged favorites, and featured in his recent 99 Essential L.A. Restaurants, opens at 11.

Los Angeles Central Library: 630 W. 5th Street, Los Angeles; (213) 228-7000. The lecture is at 10:30 and is free.

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