Okay, are you ready for this, world? Because this idea is the CHEESIEST!

Fellow Bay Area Bites blogger Jen Maiser sent me this receipt from the recently-opened Venissimo Cheese with the note, "Thought you'd be interested in seeing this receipt from a new store in Long Beach."

(First of all, can we have a little side conversation of how flippin' awesome it is to receive receipts in the mail that might be "of interest"? It's like our food geekery knows no bounds!)

Now take a look at that receipt and see just how much bang you get for your buck. You get:

1. The name of the cheese you bought: very key if you lose the little papers the cheese was wrapped in, or if you didn't lose them but were unfortunate enough to have a cheesemonger like me whose bad handwriting rendered the little cheese papers illegible.

2. The pronunciation of said cheese: in order not to embarrass yourself when you go back and reorder that "grow-YER" you enjoyed so much in your fondue.

3. The place of origin: because you might go there to get the cheese some day, and also because geography is fun.

4. The milk and treatment: because cow or sheep, raw or not-so-raw, it can matter for health reasons or just for general personal edification reasons.

5. Tasting notes: so you can impress your friends at the dinner table with just how sensitive and refined your palate is compared to theirs.

6. Wine pairing: because "What wine should I have with this?" was the question we got as often as "Where's the Slanted Door?" at Ye Olde Stanke Cheeseshoppe. Also, check it out -- they give you no less than four recommendations for each cheese!

The green side of me whispers that this is probably a waste of paper -- can you imagine how long your receipt would be if you bought 4-6 cheeses? -- but the cheesemonger in me drowns that side out, because this a genius idea that serves both retailers and customers well.

Belissimo, Venissimo!

Brava.