People in California relate to area codes.

562 is Long Beach. 619 is San Diego. 818 is Burbank. 213 is Downtown LA. 415 is San Francsico. 805 is Santa Barbara and Ventura. And 310 is Santa Monica, Malibu, Compton and Beverly Hills.

Today, I was hitting the 626. This covers most of the San Gabriel Valley and nearby neighborhoods like Pasadena, El Monte, West Covina and — here — Arcadia.

And this is where my pal, Jay Terauchi (@chef_jay), decided to feed me. We toured around with fellow blogger extraordinaire Amy Shuster (@backyardbite) and the 626 food expert Kristie Hang (@626foodettes) who — I’m not even kidding here — is like Google for this area. Ask her about any restaurant and not only will she tell you where it is but what to order — and sometimes how to order it. (Yeah, she’s THAT serious.)

So after a quick stop at Crème Caramel in Van Nuys — see my blog about it — Jay and I (and my mom) met up with Amy and Kristie at Din Tai Fung Dumpling House for some dim sum — and some great conversations.

Here’s what our eating adventure looked like:

J.J. Bakery

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Since we had to wait in line at Din Tai Fung Dumpling House, my mom and I headed across the parking lot to J.J. Bakery, a Taiwanese bakery and cafe.