If you could get one thing more readily available from the other coast, what would you pick? It can be a dish, ingredient , food chain, animal species etc. The rule is you get one pick. Choose wisely 
For you folks not on the coast, you get two picks, one from each coast! Lol
I’m going dungies! I love crab and I wish I had access to fish and eat these locally.
east coast - bagel from NY/NJ
West coast - I’d go with crab too (any type)
A decent artichoke for <$3.
My east coast pick is smoked mullet from the Tampa Bay area. I can’t find anything similar elsewhere.
My west coast pick is fresh berries. There seem so be so many varieties that I’ve never seen or heard of before!
Wow, cool answers so far.
Have you tried smoked whiting? I really like them. I’ve tried smoking them myself but never really had them come out that well so I gave up on them. I focus on other protein when smoking.
I have not. Mullet are pretty fatty. In that area the best are smoked over red oak. Delicious but you’re a kitty magnet for the rest of the day after you eat one!
From the East Coast: great pastrami
I’ve been going to this place since I was a toddler:
It’s the best there is!
East Coast pizza hands down !!! we miss the corner pizza joints with real New York pizza,nothing out here in Seattle but pizza made on preformed sponge crusts…ugh !!!
Oy. Our Louisiana Man (hear, Doug Kershaw performance) of impeccable palate and manners at a renown West Coast seafood beanery pronounced Dungeness “pretty good”, so we’ll vote for his recommendation that the West Coast hasn’t made proper acquaintance with blue crab. Of course, a lot of not-from-LA West Coasters hunger for Eastern bagels.
I grew up in CA, living in nyc since i moved here for college (which has been long time now!)
From CA i miss access to pristine cheap crazy fresh produce, especially during strawberry season. And @small_h is right, some good artichokes that aren’t a fortune would be nice
When visiting my family in CA the top three requests are bagels, rugalach, and street vendor nuts.
We don’t get them much less either 
VERY specifically? NEW YORK BAGELS!!! When we go there, we bring back a couple of dozen.
Speaking of bread, split top buns for lobster rolls.
Even though we produce a huge amount of the nation’s produce we don’t get good deals. But when it’s local I honestly don’t care what it costs.
Oh, and foie gras. Just got banned again.
Living now in Boston after 15 years in San Diego it’s an easy choice - we miss the great produce
But don’t you still get it? Or not as fresh? I get it.
Most of the produce might still come from California/Mexico but difference in quality and freshness is huge. In addition the variety of produce in California is significantly larger
I had a similar experience moving from Florida to the middle of nowhere in Middle Tennessee. Much higher prices for much lower quality and variety. I was stunned. Every trip I took back to visit family I would return loaded down with produce!
Please tell me what you don’t get.
Easy … Sourdough
I’ll trade you a bagel
I also grew up in California and when I moved to NYC in 1981 I was absolutely shocked at the poor quality and high prices of the produce here. Easily three times what anything cost back in CA, plus in the supermarkets everything was wrapped up in plastic wrap on styrofoam boards. I was so happy when I finally discovered the 4th Street Food Coop, and the (Manhattan) Chinatown markets. I’ve lived everywhere in the city except Staten Island, and Queens, where I live now, is far and away the most amazing produce shopping paradise I’ve ever lived in here.
What would I like from the West Coast? Loquats and Mission avocados from my parents’ backyard. Oh, and See’s Candy!
