CheekyChicago

There’s that age old adage: “Good things come to those who wait.” Most people generally would disagree, myself included. But when it comes to Stephanie Izard’s newly opened culinary destination, Girl and the Goat, which opened last week and nearly two years after her Top Chef win and three months behind schedule, waiting has never felt so worthy.

The A-game team of Boka Group’s Kevin Boehm and Rob Katz (the fellas behind Perennial, BOKA and Landmark) have partnered up with the celebrity chef, who, in the 30 plus days since the restaurant trained the staff, soft-opened to friends and family and officially opened to the public has expedited every single dish herself.  That’s right: don’t expect to see Izard jovially walking the room, greeting her salivating patrons and signing autographs.  She’s right there at the line all night long, focusing on her food and she’s letting it do all the talking.

Everything about Izard’s menu pays homage to Chicago. She deeply understands that the Windy City is perhaps the biggest foodie town in the country and that people here are more impressed with a succulent pig face than a well done demi-glace.  Her style is all at once rustic yet smart, straightforward yet playful, sophisticated yet ballsy.

Start with the breads, which are not complimentary but can be ordered a la carte and are baked with different ingredients (like goat cheese or anchovy) and paired with flavored butters and tapenades  to match. Same goes for an ever changing daily selection of oysters and house-made sausages.

As the meal progresses, it’s evident that what Izard understands even more than her hometown peeps is how to combine and balance a multitude of random ingredients all on one plate to make a dish sing as one.  With elements of sweet, salty, rich and acidic on each and every plate, it’s important to grab each component into one master bite.  Flavor combination is truly Izard’s savvy and not everyone is going to get it.

The  menu changes constantly and on our evening, we were lucky enough to catch some highlights. The Beet Salad with breaded pancetta, anchovies, crème fraiche and frisee is a tart and crunchy take on this staple. The Scallops came dressed with braised veal, copanata, pickles and an almond butter.   The Lamb Rib was tender, fatty and tossed with lemon, olive oil, salt and pepper and accompanied with Napa cabbage, onion, radish and grilled avocado. Sauteed Cauliflower was cooked with mint, parmesan, pickled jalapeno and pine nuts.

Desserts follow suit with the same attitude-meets-whimsy, as with the Frozen Chocolate Fudge, olive oil ice cream and topped table side with Dragonfruit beer.  But the Corn Nougat dressed with crumbs of sweet cornbread, fatty chunks of bacon, plum and apricot syrup within a mason jar was the highlight of the entire show.

One final piece of advice for all those Chi-town foodies, Top Chef fans and overall hungry hounds: call ASAP to make your reso, as Girl & the Goat is basically booked until the end of August.

And to Steph and her Goat, we would like to personally say:  Rock on Cheeky chick…. and congrats.