Girl & the Goat

While we were in Chicago we were able to check out a new restaurant called Girl & the Goat. Big deal, right? Well I should tell you I made reservations at said restaurant 2 months in advance and our time slot….10:30 pm! Talk about a late night dinner.  Well why such the fuss over this restuarunt?
Bravo!
As in the TV network.
You see, the owner is Stephanie Izard, winner of Top Chef (season 4).  That was the season Adam and I started watching Top Chef and we thought it would be fun to try it out.

Now, Adam and I are not “foodies”. We don’t get all snobby about presentation and could really care less if the produce is organic-free range-farm raised-what not.  We just like tasty food. Where we do get snobby, at least I do, is service. I CAN NOT STAND bad service.  I’ve waited too many tables (with great service I might add) to sit waiting at my table with an empty water glass and no server in sight.  Luckily the service was not an issue at G&G. We must have had 6 (Jonathan counted) different people servicing our table and our water glasses never got more than 1/2 empty. Happy Girl.

Alright, let's move onto the food. When I originally booked the reservation I was happy to see that it was in the “under $30” price range, but when we got closer to our trip realized that it was a “Tapas” type menu.  Meaning the portions are made to share, but small.  Luckily, knowing this ahead of time, we got a pizza for $12 at a bar next door around "real" dinner time. Back to the food....
All of us ordered from the fish portion of the menu (the meat portion honestly scared me…face, feet, tongue, liver….all parts I don’t want to eat.)

We started off with Bread (well actually beer first :)) with two “Not Campbell's” dipping sauces; cream of mushroom and tomato.  I loved the bread; it had lots of grains and a nice hard crust and I really enjoyed the sauces. Adam wasn’t as impressed.  Next came my choice: Salmon Tartare (I know-fancy!) The dish was  cold & raw, but quite tasty.  I thought it was a great light starter to our meal.

Next came Jonathan’s choice: Seared Tuna. I’m not a big tuna fan, but the guys loved it and I did enjoy the mixture of flavors and textures.  Our final plates were hot dishes. Adam’s choice: Seared Halibut. And for the vegetable I chose: Green beans.  By this point I was actually pretty full, but the Halibut was really good!
However the star of the evening was the green beans.  I’ve never in my life had better green beans. They were even better than green bean casserole! I am currently scouring the internet for a recipe anything close to the sauce. (If I find it I will share it!) Sadly we had to leave some of the beans behind that we were too full to finish.
At the end of the meal we were too full to even look at dessert, but we all agreed that it was a pretty good experience. I’m glad we ate before, because Adam would have been STARVING, but if you have the $ you could go there and fill up quite easily while getting to taste a variety of foods.

Below is our entrée’s direct from the menu-just so you can see how inventive she got with each dish and the mixing of flavors.
(salmon tartare . summer squash . summer truffles . marcona almonds)
(seared tuna . lamb sausage . grilled blueberry . pepitas)

(pan roasted halibut . brandade . grilled asparagus . green garlic . blackberry)

(sauteed green beans . fish sauce vinaigrette . cashews)

For those who want to know:
Girl & The Goat
809 West Randolph Street
Chicago, IL 60607-2310
(312) 492-6262
Open Mon-Thu,Sun 4:30pm-11pm; Fri-Sat 4:30pm-12am