When The Brothers Sun co-creator Byron Wu first conceived his story about a Taiwanese American immigrant family hiding their triad past in the suburbs, he knew exactly where such characters would live: the San Gabriel Valley, the Asian American enclave just east of the city of Los Angeles.
“It’s a hidden gem of Los Angeles,” said Wu, who lived in the SGV’s Hacienda Heights when he first moved to L.A., in the press notes for the Netflix action dramedy premiering today, Thursday. The region’s underrepresentation in media appealed to him and co-creator and co-showrunner Brad Falchuk, and in addition to explicitly setting the story in the SGV (younger son Bruce attends the fictional Cal State San Gabriel, characters carry grocery bags from Taiwanese American supermarket chain 99 Ranch), much of the series was filmed on location there.
To pay further homage to the area known as the 626, Netflix has produced a special featurette, “Discovering SGV,” in which Wu joins stars Justin Chien and Sam Song Li as well as series directors Kevin Tancharoen and Viet Nguyen to revisit some of the most iconic – and delicious – filming locations from The Brothers Sun. Hosted by Wong Fu Productions co-founder and 626 small business owner Philip Wang, who also hosts Netflix’s digital interview series Spill the Boba Tea, the men go on a mouth-watering food crawl in the video.
“The SGV is a very unique ethnic enclave in all of America. There’s Chinatowns, there’s Asian neighborhoods, but nothing this dense,” says Wang, who last year penned a THR guest column uplifting the region following the Monterey Park mass shooting last January.
“I grew up in the 626. My phone number has 626 in it,” says Li, who was born in China before relocating to the SGV. “This is as authentic as it can get.”
The food crawl starts over the house-special lobster – laden with scallions, garlic, chilis and roe – at the San Gabriel location of the banquet classic Newport Seafood, where Mama Sun (Michelle Yeoh) frequents to gather intel from the fellow Taiwanese and Chinese aunties. “In our show, the back room of Newport Seafood is a secret mahjong club,” says Wu.
“That’s not confirmed!” Wang quickly interjects.
Then the gang heads to the Monterey Park location of another popular Chinese eatery chain, Kee Wah Bakery. Chien asks a clerk in Mandarin for a pair of tongs to pick up scallion buns, pineapple shortcakes and other pastries before reminiscing about shooting scenes in the store. His character, older brother Charles, is a deadly triad lieutenant with a missed calling for baking.
“There’s a huge sense of familiarity seeing faces similar to the ones you grew up around,” says Chien, who was born in Taipei but raised speaking English.
Wang then meets up with Nguyen and Tancharoen at Xiaolongkan Chinese Fondue in Alhambra. In the show, Charles and old flame Alexis (Highdee Kuan) share a spicy hot pot there as they tentatively rekindle their relationship. “We have very similar traumas that we can laugh about,” says Tancharoen of the show’s all-Asian writers room as the trio dips thinly sliced meats and fresh vegetables into the boiling broth. “I haven’t been to any Asian household that didn’t have a drawer full of sauce packets. I would have died to have a show like this when I was younger.”
In addition to the three eateries featured in “Discovering SGV,” The Brothers Sun also filmed at Golden Soup Restaurant, Dynasty Center, Great Wall Restaurant and Golden Dragon Seafood as well as Dan Sung Sa and Century Day & Night Spa in Koreatown.
The public will have a chance to taste and see an array of the most exciting next-generation food and crafts vendors in the SGV at a special Netflix-hosted edition of the 626 Night Market on Jan. 6 and 7. Typically held only during the warmer months, The Brothers Sun x 626 Night Market Mini is free to the public by online registration only and will include such delicious bites as baos, boba, churros, dumplings, poke nachos and Japanese sandos.
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