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Girl and the Goat Chicago – Stephanie Izard

March 20, 2017 by Jennifer Che 2 Comments

Girl and the Goat -1-of-17.jpg
This is the seventh post in the Weekend Trip to Chicago series. Other post include Topolobampo, Frontera Grill by Rick Bayless, Giordano’s Pizza, Portillo’s Hot Dog, and Lou Malnati’s.

One of the most difficult reservations to get in Chicago is at Girl and the Goat, a trendy bustling restaurant in the West Loop area of Chicago. Chef Stephanie Izard, the first female ever to win Top Chef, opened Girl and the Goat in 2010 with business partners from BOKA restaurant group.
Girl and the Goat -14-of-17.jpg
Chef Izard and the restaurant have since received numerous awards, including James Beard Award for Best Chef Great Lakes (2013), James Beard Nomination for Best New Restaurant (2011), and Food and Wine Magazine’s Best New Chef (2010).
Girl and the Goat -2-of-17.jpg
I am so thankful that my friends are excellent planners, because they had the foresight to reserve a table for a party of six at Girl and the Goat three weeks before our planned trip.

As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, I could totally see why. Even at 9PM on a Sunday evening, the place was packed.

The Food

The menu is split into three sections, “V” for vegetables, “F” for fish (really, seafood), and “M” for meat (land animals). Most of the dishes are on the smaller side, meant for small plate style sharing. There are a couple larger “main course” type dishes, but in general, the idea is to share several dishes, ordering about 2-3 dishes per person depending on the size of the dishes. Our table of six ordered twelve dishes across the menu plus three desserts, which was just about right.

“V” for Vegetables

Girl and the Goat Chicago
Kohrabi Salad ($10) came with fennel, Evalon (a semi-firm goat’s milk cheese from LaClare Farms right outside Milwaukee), blueberries, and toasted almonds. I remember loving the flavor of the creamy dressing, which reminded me a bit of tahini, miso, or some sort of nut paste. The salad was both sweet and salty, and nicely balanced.
Girl and the Goat Chicago
Roasted Beets ($10) came tossed with green beans, white anchovy, avocado creme fraiche, and bread crumbs.Girl and the Goat -9-of-17.jpg
Wood Grilled Broccoli ($13) was nicely charred and came with a smokey bleu cheese and spiced “crispies”.
Girl and the Goat Chicago
An order of Sweet Corn Pierogies ($16) came with four individual deep fried pierogies with grape melon relish and a charred scallion creme sauce.

“F” for Fish

Girl and the Goat Chicago
Hamachi Crudo ($16) with crisp pork belly, chili aioli, and caperberries was tasty but difficult to share among six people.
Girl and the Goat Chicago
We really enjoyed the Grilled Baby Octopus ($17), which came with guanciale, fava beans, pea tips, and pistachios tossed in a lemon vinaigrette.
Girl and the Goat Chicago
Soft Shell ‘Chili Crab” ($18) came in a flavorful broth with sweet corn elotes (grilled Mexican corn on the cob).

“M” for Meat

Girl and the Goat -13-of-17.jpg
Bucatini ($16) with milk braised pork shoulder and pickled cape gooseberries was solid, though I personally found the cape gooseberries to be a bit odd in the savory pasta.
Girl and the Goat -11-of-17.jpg
Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face ($19) came topped with a sunny side egg and served with a  tamarind, cilantro, and red wine-maple sauce along with crispy potato “stix”.
Girl and the Goat -12-of-17.jpg
The Crisp Braised Pork Shank was quite a generous portion, and came with buttermilk dressing, stone fruit kimchi, and naan (Indian bread) on the side.

Dessert

The dessert menu includes a rotating selection of creative desserts and local Midwest cheese from Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, and Wisconsin. They also serve a ice variety coffee from Dark Matter Coffee and tea from Rare Tea Cellars.
Girl and the Goat -15-of-17.jpg
I enjoyed the Olive Oil Cake & Gelato ($9), which consisted of a slice of olive oil cake served with limoncello gelato, raspberries, pistachio crumbs, and strips of candied lemon.
Girl and the Goat -17-of-17.jpg
My favorite was probably the Berries & Cream, a fun plate composed of Chateau d’Orignac gelee, lime, and frozen buttermilk meringue pieces. The blueberries had crystallized sugar on the outside, making them look frozen even though they were not.
Girl and the Goat -16-of-17.jpg
A nostalgic “take me back to my childhood” – type dessert, the Caramel Corn & Malt Balls came with popcorn caramel and vanilla malt gelato topped with chocolate magic shell (so fun!).

General Thoughts – Girl and the Goat Chicago

The food is creative at the Girl and the Goat. Chef Izard likes mixing up opposing flavors, like sweet and savory or charred and tart. I like how she incorporates textural variety into a lot of the dishes – some rice crispies or breadcrumbs to add crunch, for example.

She also mixes together influences from all around the world. The menu includes examples of Korean kim chi, Indian naan, Singaporean chili crab, Eastern European pierogies, Japanese hamachi, and Italian bucatini.

Chef Izard is not afraid to push the envelope. Sometimes it’s brilliant, other times it doesn’t work for everybody.
Girl and the Goat -8-of-17.jpg

Bryan didn’t love the food. He doesn’t like sweet flavors, and there were plenty of dishes here that incorporated either some element of fruit or sweetness.

There are also several goat dishes, which is not for everyone (there are plenty of non-goat dishes from which to choose).

All in all, I enjoyed the food at the restaurant. There were definitely some fun dishes. In general, I enjoyed the earlier dishes more than the larger format, meat dishes.

Is it worth the hype? Not sure. It might not be my top choice restaurant, but it’s worth checking out.

Girl and the Goat Chicago
809 W Randolph St,
Chicago, IL 60607

Filed Under: Chicago, Restaurant, Review, US Travel

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Comments

  1. Lesley Pittaway says

    March 23, 2017 at 8:38 am

    I am a total Top Chef fan girl [cringe] and I must say I really loved Stephanie on the show! I would definitely want to visit if I ever found myself in Chicago and the food looks interesting and generally rather good. Although I have to say I am with Bryan…they can keep their fruit / sweet elements when it comes to my savouries. xx

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  1. Dinner at the Exclusive Kitchen Table at Alinea Chicago - Tiny Urban Kitchen says:
    April 7, 2017 at 12:00 am

    […] This is the eighth and final post in the Weekend Trip to Chicago series. Other post include Topolobampo, Frontera Grill by Rick Bayless, Giordano’s Pizza, Portillo’s Hot Dog, Lou Malnati’s, and Girl and the Goat. […]

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Welcome to Tiny Urban Kitchen!

JenChe

Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am a Boston to Hong Kong transplant, born and raised in Ohio with parents from Taiwan. Feel free to head on over to the About page if you want to learn more about me, or just explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!
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