worth the delicious wait

after making reservations nearly two months ago, we finally were able to dine at girl & the goat last night. i must say that it was definitely worth the wait.  we took our happy (and hungry) bellies to the restaurant last night and were seated in a cozy table near the front corner of the restaurant.  as soon as you walk into the restaurant, you feel a warmth from the darkness of the room and the smell of the wood-burning ovens in the exposed kitchen in the back.  even at 9pm, the place was crowded with diners all with smiles on their faces or forks in their mouths.

former top chef winner stephanie izard is the executive chef of girl & the goat.  the menu, divided into three parts (vegetable, fish, meat), is all small plates to share with your fellow diners.  girl & the goat gets most of their ingredients from local farms, so the menu changes often.  though you might expect the menu to change seasonally, our server told us that it's not uncommon for some items to change daily.


we ordered a nice bottle of pinot noir and started with the "apple smacks" bread, served with ginger butter and apple puree.  some of my favorite dishes throughout the night were:

goat chorizo flatbread
sauteed prawns
seared scallops
smoked goat empanadas
ham frites
roasted cauliflower*

*i am not a fan of cauliflower and this dish was amazing!!  after a little bit of research, i was super excited to see that stephanie has the recipe posted on her website!  take a look here!!  

i was a bit nervous when our bill came, but it was nowhere near as bad as i thought it might (or could) have been!

if you live in chicago or are coming to chicago, i cannot recommend girl & the goat enough.  it was so good that we made reservations to go again for my birthday!

photo found here.