Pick up the phone right now and call Girl and the Goat to make a reservation. You usually have to call two months in advance for any date, so at this point you may be able to get a reservation for mid June (perfect for Graduation!). I was very fortunate that two of my friends took me here for an early graduation present and the entire trip was amazing!
Nested in the West Loop, Girl and the Goat was founded by Stephanie Izard, the Season 4 Winner of Top Chef. Foodies from all over the nation have been raving about this restaurant and when we stepped in on a Tuesday night, the buzz of the restaurant was confirmed! The interior of the restaurant is beautiful with great wooden accents and animated Alice in Wonderland-esque paintings everywhere, featuring girls and goats of course. Besides the beautiful environment inside, all of the servers are very friendly and even though they are very busy, they give a lot of personal attention to each table. A golden star to the restaurant already just for the impeccable service!
The hardest part of the whole meal was just deciding what we were going to eat. Because they serve small plates, we ended up ordering 7 dishes among the 3 of us to share and sample. We ordered:
· Not Campbells Bread
· Roasted Cauliflower
· Escargot Ravioli
· Confit Goat Belly
· Pan Roasted Halibut
· Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face
· Sticky Date Cake
Of these 7 dishes, my favorites were the Not Campbells Bread, the Roasted Cauliflower and the Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face.
· The Not Campbells bread is their freshly baked bread (made across the street at their bakery), which is served with mushroom butter and tomato oil. These two spreads are supposed to mimic Cream of Mushroom Soup and Tomato soup respectively, and I could have just eaten this as my entire meal.
· The Roasted Cauliflower was a nice surprise because I thought that it wouldn’t be as good as some of the other protein dishes we had ordered. I couldn’t have been more wrong: the cauliflower is sautéed with sliced peppers, pine nuts and mint, leaving each piece with a nice crunch while still absorbing the flavor of the broth at the bottom of the bowl.
· The Pig Face was my favorite dish, so it’s no surprise that it is one of the restaurant’s specialties. Now, I know some people who are skeptical about eating pig face, but it is phenomenal. The pig face is really crispy and is served with potato ‘stix’, different sauces and then topped with a sunny side up egg. To eat it, you mix everything together to make a salad of sort and each bite was amazing. I would come here to just order this dish and eat it by myself. You cannot go to Girl and the Goat without trying this!
This has been on the top of my list as one of the restaurants that I wanted to try, and now I can leave Chicago very happy! It is a bit pricey, so if you are looking to try another Stephanie Izard creation, she recently opened up the Little Goat Diner, which is right across the street. They are taking diner food and putting a gourmet twist to everything, and the reviews have all been very positive!
As always, check out my food blog for more descriptions of the food and my other food adventures!