What we're talking about here is a fresh, tart, young chèvre, not one that's been aged until it's all runny and has turned into something too sophisticated for my palate.

Peel and chop the luscious, dead ripe heirloom tomato of your choice. I'm partial to Purple Cherokees.

Crumble a generous amount of chèvre over it.

Sprinkle with a spoonful of good balsamic vinegar in. This is not the place for that stuff you measure out with the eyedropper, but on the other hand over the years I seem to be requiring more expensive balsamic vinegars, for which I can blame cousin Jania for introducing me to the concept that some very interesting balsamic vinegars were available at stores other than Safeway.

Grind a generous amount of black pepper over it. I discovered Telicherry only last year, and it's worth it.

Sprinkle with as much salt as you dare.

Stir gently until the tomato chunks are bathed in a rich pink sauce...or stir briefly so that there are discernible bits of chèvre

Enjoy.

This is as good a time as any to dispel those vicious rumors that I'm a paid propagandist for the American Goatherds Association. I can with absolute honesty state that my sole meeting with Laura Chenel occurred when I happened to visit the 24th Street Cheese Store while she was hectoring Charles in an attempt to get him to stock her chèvre. I found myself grateful that she didn't have me cornered. Clearly, if one spends too much time with goats, one loses some social charm.

However, I continue to buy her splendid cheese, which is as delicious as she is aggressive and which is stocked at Rainbow Grocery and was stocked at Real Foods, only a block away from me, until that store was acquired by a pack of voracious Salt Lake City Mormons who preferred closing the store and pasting mendacious "Closed for Remodeling" signs in the windows to operating the store with employees paid a living wage.

Masters of irony, they laid off all the employees just before Labor Day 2003, and the store, with the signs, remained untouched for many months. What is it about being a rich Christian grocery-store owner that makes the concept of having any sense of care for one's employees anathema? These folk are like Safeway's notorious Steve Burd, who resides in gated, guarded, imperial splendor over in the East Bay and reaps millions and millions in salary and bonuses while the share price declines. But he fights tooth and nail against continuing to provide health insurance for his miserable checkers and sackers and such.

Late note in the interest of fairness: I peeked into the empty building in June of 2004 and noticed that at some point much of the shelving had been removed. So I cannot say, as the first anniversary of the closing approaches, that the new owners have done nothing. At this rate of progress, though, everyone associated with the store will have long since died of extreme old age before whatever is being done inside is complete.

Update: As of the Summer of '06 the building is still "Closed for Remodeling."