Caprese Salad

Everything on this plate is meant to be eaten at room temperature, in the shade, with a fork and no ceremony.

• Buffalo mozzarella, torn, never sliced.
• Vine tomatoes, cut thick and salted early.
• Basil, torn over the top at the last second.
• Olive oil, poured with a heavy hand.
• Balsamic, a dark thread across the plate.

Salt the tomatoes first and let them sit, so the juice runs and mixes with the oil at the bottom of the plate. The mozzarella goes on cold from the fridge, torn by hand because a knife presses the water out of it. Basil last, or it blackens. This is a vegetarian and gluten-free starter, and it is finished in the time it takes to carry it to the table. Contains: dairy.