Chicago Eats Part Two: Girl and the Goat
Come on, baby don’t you want to go
Come on, baby don’t you want to go
To the same old place, sweet home Chicago
Robert Johnson may have written the lyrics, but most of us remember the Blues Brothers version of Sweet Home Chicago. As a former Chicago native, I sing the lyrics every time I return to the Windy City.
As mentioned in last week’s article about Hot Doug’s and The Purple Pig, Chris and I spent multiple nights in Chicago, Illinois, recently to see Phish at the UIC Pavilion. While planning for this trip, our friends Mindy and Patterson insisted that we eat at Girl and the Goat with them. This restaurant is so popular, we had to book a reservation more than two months in advance. It turned out to be an excellent choice for our “farewell to Chicago” meal with our friends. I would like to thank Mindy for her help as guest photographer for some of the pictures posted in this article.
The “Girl” from Girl and the Goat is Stephanie Izard–she won the illustrious title of Top Chef in Season Four when the show was hosted in Chicago. She opened Girl and the Goat in Summer 2010, and the restaurant has developed a cult following since. I am always curious when a restaurant gains this much buzz. Is it because they have a good Public Relations firm? Is it because the chef is popular? Is it because the food is actually that good? In the case of Girl and the Goat, the food is that good.
We started off with two types of oysters. I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of oysters by nature. Raw shellfish has never been my thing. However, these were lightly roasted in a wood-burning oven and prepared in unique ways I had not experienced previously.
READ ON for more on Girl and the Goat…
The first set was dressed in a soy cucumber mignonette, which is a vinegar and pepper based sauce. The second set, by contrast, was prepared with horseradish, bacon and preserved lemon. I believe I was the only person at the table who preferred the former since everyone loves bacon. I enjoyed the Asian flair of the soy cucumber mignonette, and although I certainly love bacon, the preserved lemon overpowered the other ingredients in the second preparation.
Following the oysters, we received our “Chicken Little Bread.” Mindy had spoken very highly of the bread that Girl and the Goat bakes on-site. Each bread is paired with different types of butters–both sweet and savory–depending on your preference. We opted for chicken liver butter and carrot butter with our bread, and the flavors were amazing.
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
The chicken liver butter was extremely rich as one would imagine. There were just enough hints of liver to satisfy a pâté lover like myself, and the carrot butter provided an interesting contrast that one would not expect. It took everything we had not to order seconds, but we didn’t want to load up on the bread with many other great dishes on the way.
The next dishes that arrived to our table were Pan Fried Duck Tongues with Peaches n’ Plums, Cherry Tomato and Chimichurri, and Sauteed Green Beans with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette and Cashews.
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
It was fun trying to figure out what to order because there were so many funky pairings similar to the dishes I’ve described thus far. The pan fried duck tongues resembled a Szechuan dish in texture–bold, crunchy and heavily seasoned. The acidity from the cherry tomatoes and the Argentinian-based chimichurri complemented the sweetness of the peaches and plums. I would order this dish again in a heartbeat. The green beans had an interesting flavor. Although the menu described a fish sauce vinaigrette, the sauce was deceivingly creamy in presentation. Yet, it didn’t taste creamy. It was tangy, spicy and extremely vibrant. I later found out that the “vinaigrette” was comprised of fish sauce, soy, minced garlic, oil, Srichacha, lemon juice and dijon. No wonder it packed such a punch! The cashews also added a nice crunch to the dish.
The last three dishes we ate were a hodgepodge of madness for the taste buds: Ham Frites with Smoked Tomato Aioli and Cheddar Beer Sauce; Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face with a Sunny Side Egg, Tamarind, Cilantro and Potato Stix; and Confit Goat Belly with Bourbon Butter, Lobster n’ Crab and Fennel.
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
[Photo by Mindy Reznik]
The frites generated a hilarious debate at the table. Chris and I were so exhausted after a long week of “Phishing” that we both perceived ham frites to be some form of fried ham, similar to ham croquettes. When highly pork grease laden fries were placed in front of us, our jaws dropped. Mindy and Patterson picked on us for not realizing the frites would be fries–especially since cheese fries were the last thing we wanted at the time. But humorously, we couldn’t stop eating them as these were about as highbrow of a French fry as you’re going to get. YUM.
The pig face was exactly what you would expect. Pig face. Fatty, delicious, porky face. As soon as we poked the sunny-side egg with a fork, the flavors all melded together. Once again, there was an excellent crunch to the dish from the potato sticks. Stephanie Izard gets why subtle textures are so important. They help you get the most out of her unique flavor pairings.
Last, but certainly not least, we ate one of many goat dishes on the menu–the confit goat belly. By this time, my palette was completely blown from experiencing so many other strong flavors. I wish this dish had come earlier in the dinner because the meat was truly succulent. The lobster and crab were fun add-ons, but this plate was all about the goat and bourbon butter. In fact, I just noticed a little drool forming at the corner of my mouth as I think about that bourbon butter.
At the end of the meal, I was in complete wonderment at the meal we just experienced. Girl and the Goat is a restaurant that you go to because you are excited to try things you would never have imagined. It delivers a “kid in a candy store” feeling to the adventurous food lover. This was a phenomenal meal to close our week of friends, music, food and fun in one of my favorite cities, Chicago.
I’ll see you all in two weeks. Next up: Seattle!
