We can’t lay claim to championship sports teams or affordable rent, but we do often brag about our Dungeness crab, oysters on the half shell, and boutique coffee roasters. Ah, Washington! Where tech employees are only outnumbered by bowls of clam chowder, and rainstorms still spark short-term memory loss when it comes to driving. Here are just a few of the foods that make living in the Space Needle state totally worth it.

Illustration by Hello Neighbor Designs

Chef Blaine Wetzel at The Willows Inn on Lummi Island has cracked the code to the perfect smoked salmon recipe. Using Sockeye caught off the shores of Lummi Island during the early stages of their spawning season (which makes them nice and fatty), Wetzel brines and then dries them to create a super flavorful fish. The salmon is then smoked lightly over a long period of time to give it a sashimi-like texture. Finished off with a glaze of brown sugar, butter and verjus, the result is a bright and clean taste with firm texture that has made this dish a textbook example of the type of seafood Washington is capable of.

Shiro Kashiba began harvesting geoduck on the Washington coast and preparing them as nigiri when he immigrated to Seattle from Japan 50 years ago. Prior to that, it hadn’t been done — anywhere. He popularized geoduck as sushi, so you can bet any geoduck he touches at his eponymous Sushi Kashiba, in Pike Place Market, is pure gold. While the nigiri is seasonal, the sauteed geoduck with matsutake mushrooms is available year-round. Best part? There’s an excellent chance Shirosan will be behind the sushi bar during your visit. Now in his 70s, the man doesn’t know how to retire.

Since oysters will eat whatever nature brings their way, they’re a direct reflection of place. And Hama Hama oysters grow in a really great place. The watershed upstream from the oyster farm on the Hood Canal is all forestland, which means you can taste the pristine ecosystem in the oysters. Their sweet and crisp flavor makes them a popular choice for some of Seattle’s best restaurants, most notably Walrus and the Carpenter). Oysters can be purchased at the Hama Hama farm store In Lilliwaup or in the outside “saloon,” if you want yours paired with a cold beer and possibly colder weather.