San Juan Island Sea Salt

What do you get when you combine warm sunshine and saltwater? Most of us sun-starved Seattleites automatically picture a perfect beach day, but Brady Ryan's imagination went to salt.

San Juan Island Sea Salt just launched in 2012, but it is already creating a buzz around town. Brady, the company's founder and Griffin Bay native, hauls water from around the islands to his farm in the San Juan Valley, solar evaporates it in hoop houses, and then harvests the salt by hand. But, to call it salt is overly simplistic. This process produces intricately irregular, mineral-packed crystals, best added to your food right before you dig in.

Vials of his briny creation ("ideal for smuggling into restaurants") are now stocked on shelves at boutique retailers, like DeLaurenti Food & Wine, Sugarpill, and Picnic. But, we'll save you the embarrassment of getting caught with "outside condiments."

Since there's nothing better than sun-ripened heirloom tomatoes topped with good salt, we're teaming up with San Juan Island Sea Salt for our latest seasonal special: Summer Heirloom. Through September 5, you can also sample San Juan Island Sea Salt sprinkled on our Margherita and Funghi Salsiccia pizzas. Enjoy!