From Girl and The Goat tonight with Lucy!

This place was incredible. The food was amazing and perfectly prepared, very interesting flavor complexes complemented by a very well designed decor. The central dividing wall is covered in charred wood. Giving the entire place a real warm smokey smell and adding a very cool look. The entire kitchen is wide open for people to view, and the owner/head chef Stephanie Izard can be seen standing at the line running the show as her massive team of chefs hammer out some incredible food.

In order what we had was:

A real moist rye type bread with lobster butter, and an excellent remoulade.
Kohlrabi salad with fennel , evalon , toasted almonds , blueberry , ginger dressing – this was outstanding!
Hiramasa crudo. crisp pork belly. aji chili. caperberries – the pork belly was a perfect contrast to the clean taste fo the Hiramasa
Pan fried Shishito peppers . parmesan . sesame . miso – Very interesting and tasty. Very little heat for most of the peppers but tons of flavor.
Seared scallops with a Mango sauce, braised goat, and cucumber – Very interesting contrast of the sweet and savory with perfectly cooked meats!
Wood oven roasted pig face . sunny side egg . tamarind . cilantro . potato stix – This is the real deal, the new benchmark for awesome food. There is little to explain just how great this was. I think the evidence is that we ordered a second one as soon as we finished with this one!
Kalbi style beef short ribs! With corn and okra- The meat and seasoning was very on point, and the corn was very unexpected (and great) in its flavor. Something I want again!
Pork Fat doughnuts with poached egg plant, sharp yogurt, and berries. – Very good, very contrasting with the yogurt, egg plant, and the soft richness of the doughnut!
We then were invited to talk to Stephanie after we told our server how much we enjoyed the meal and liked Stephanie’s work. (including winning Food & Wine best new Chef and winning Top Chef 2 years ago). When we approached Stephanie, she was open and asked us how we liked our meal and really seemed to want to chat with us even while she was standing on a fast moving line of chefs.

We congradulated her and complemented her on the meals, and she then let us have a picture with her. I never felt rushed or that we were inconveniencing her, she was easily one of the more personable chefs I have met. And that was with us bugging her in the middle of a dinner rush!.

I strongly recommend Girl and the Goat for anyone who likes stellar foods. No pretense, just casual, good food. The wait staff and the hosts were absolute professionals who also knew how to smile.

We walked up at 5:30 with no reservation and only waited 5 minutes to get a seat. Reservations for groups are currently booking out into October.

Between Rick Bayless and Stephanie Izard – Chicago has some impressive talent locally for food!