Chopbiscuit on the road dining review: Girl and the Goat - Chicago, IL

Weathered wood planks layer the walls at the Girl and the Goat

 Okay, let's finally get to the review. Like I stated in the previous post, this restaurant has been on my radar for some time now. I was able to make it over to the restaurant Wednesday night with a couple co-workers and celebrated a culinary masterpiece of food, environment and good eatin'. Bravo Top Chef winner Stephanie Izards Girl and the Goat has generated some rave reviews for her unique spin on comfort food, concentrated on a variety of barnyard specialty plating's.

A Tender Goat T Bone

The Girl and the Goat is located in the meatpacking district in Chicago. The area is alive with shops, cafes, boutiques and restaurants. It's truly a great area that is abuzz in culture. The interior design looks like a muddled painting with charred planks, hip bar and a cozy, sexy and inviting layout. In the crowd were patrons that looked like Chicago's chic ruling class - very Park Slope. The place is impressive—huge, really, with soaring ceilings and a scattering of polished wood tables that make the place feel more like a factory dance club more than a remarkable restaurant venue. You step inside and get sucked right into a hipster vibe. Hot Chip is playing on the sound system when we walked in with a smooth transition '80s New Wave music the next (Duran Duran Rio to be specific), and the bar that lines one side of the room is packed a few people deep waiting for that coveted bar stool.  Izard, along with her business partners Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm, worked with designer Karen Herold of the Chicago firm 555 to turn this vast space into a quirky, yet modern layered environment with a unique culinary vision.

Food. Yes, the food. The three of us ordered around six small plates that we shared and devoured as we were three teenage boys that just got out of JV football practice. The chef's style in bringing out the flavors that you crave, all the while layering it visually as an artist would on a blank template. We enjoyed some pan fried shishito peppers, lamb sausage stuffed calamari, roasted pork shank and a few nightly specials with Goat T Bone as the headliner. It was truly a feast beyond no other. 

 For desert, we shared Bittersweet chocolate with shiitake gelato. An amazing sweetness from the chocolate was minimized by the earthiness from the gelato. Absolutely, insanely delicious.

So, go. If you haven't yet, you should. Period.

The Girl & the Goat
809 West  Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607
312.492.6262
www.girlandthegoat.com

Chicago Eating - sloth style

Work has brought me out to Chicago this week, one of my favorite food towns in the country. Everytime I visit Chicago I feel like I gain 10 pounds hopping off the plane. I lose all self control and turn into a gluttonous pig - meandering through the provisions like a kid at Christmas. I finally had the opportunity to visit the Girl and the Goat in Chicago last night and had one of the best food experiences in my life. Make sure to come back to check out my dining review where I will elaborate on what this restaurant is doing right in the world of flavors, combinations and environment.

This is my first post on Chopbiscuit using my iPad - so I apologize up front about any grammatical errors. Traveling peeve numero uno - Airports that charge for wireless. It's 2011, get in the game and provide this service to the traveling salesman type. Ala, me.

I will be frequenting Chi-town quite a bit this spring for a few projects and the annual NRA food show show. This show is a big "Vegas" style food porn exhibit numbing your senses as you peruse the aisles and aisles of non-sensical "things" that bow down to our big food business gods. For those who have never attended the show - make sure you have clear intent on what you're looking for or you will get lost somewhere between the Thailand smoothie taco truck or the Bhurman fusion pancake flipper guy. It's your local County Fair midway on Steroids and Four Loko.

Flight is boarding - talk to soon.