For those of you who've been living under a rock and another heavier rock.... The Girl and the Goat is a "hot spot" restaurant in Chicago. It's owner, Stephanie Izzard, was one of the winners of the television show Top Chef (I don't remember which season.... sorry, that's too much to ask of me).
And according to my daughters, who are "in the know", the Girl and the Goat, is the restaurant in Chicago today!
Last night, we had a reservation to celebrate my older daughter's birthday. How did we rate a reservation at one of Chicago's hot spots? Well, we made the reservation over three months ago... and please note, it was a Monday night!
Now, I should note, this restaurant is not for those on a budget. You will spend this month's rent eating at GAG (as my daughter likes to refer to it).
The space is dark and brooding, which is actually kind cool... the noise of patrons conversing and the thump, thump, thump of loud background music better suited to those younger than I fills the air.
Our waitress, Monika, was terrific, attentive and more than helpful. She walked us through the menu, and suggested some wonderful items. Their menu is broken into three parts, V-for Vegetables... F-for Fish... and M-for, you guessed it, those things with Meat. Monika was so good, in fact, that she even laughed at a couple of my jokes. That's right... she was just THAT good!
So, let's see.. what did we eat? ... Monika recommended we start with approximately 2 dishes per person... so with the five of us, that was 10 dishes, (You see how quickly I calculated that, right in my head!?) since GAG offers small plates (ala tappas style) for everyone at the table to share.
Monika and the serving staff were wonderful at spacing the dishes out so they arrived one or two at a time, they were whisked away when the plates were empty, so that we never sat staring at an empty table.
In fact the serving staff was so attentive, I began to refer to them as "attack waiters"... who when they saw a glass was less than full, they swooped in like a Ninja... quickly poured more water, and just as swiftly backed away. Make sure you aren't between them and the water glass... you could lose an eye! Here's what we ate:
STARTING WITH THE VEGETARIAN OFFERINGS:
* chickpeas fritters with eggplant-tomatillo caponata and crave brother's mozzarella. The tiny little sample that I had was delicious... would have liked a bit more.
* roasted beets with green beans and white anchovy on a layer of avocado creme fraiche. I'm not a big fan of beets, but this was tasty, and there was ample to share.
* sauteed green beans in a fish sauce vinaigrette with cashews. This was a larger bowl, easily shareable at the table. The fish sauce was a bit bright, but delicious. It was not a favourite of the table, but it was my favourite of the evening.
* squash blossom rangoon stuffed with crab, chive yogurt and little toasted almonds spread around. There were four little blossoms, stuffed with crab and yogurt... very tasty, but by the time you divided them for the five of us, just a little taste.
ON TO THE FISH PORTION OF THE MENU:
* seared scallops, smoked goat, spiced cantaloupe and coconut-cucumber salad. There were two large scallops, which we surgically dissected into eight tiny pieces, so that everyone could have a bite. I think my bite was delicious... at least I think I remember that it was...
* steamed clams with tarragon, fermented black beans and a tiny Chinese cruller. That's right... a cruller, to soak up some of the lovely juices. There were only five tiny clams... one for each of us. I have the feeling there are ordinarily only four, but our waitress told the kitchen... hey, they're sharing this with five people... c'mon, gimme one more. Very tasty, and we dipped our soft-pretzel bread into the juices multiple times.
* pan roasted wild striped bass with sea beans and truffle-poblano vinaigrette. This was not one of my favourites, but it was the favourite of everyone else at the table. Nice pieces of bass, sitting in a vinaigrette sauce, with sea beans (tiny, thin twisted little gems of flavour). I thought the bass was bland, but everything it was sitting in was tasty.
* soft shell crab I don't remember all the ingredients on this one, and I can't find it on their website... but it was tender little pieces of crab, floating in a delectable broth, and we all took turns dipping into it with bread, and forks. Excellent.
AND WE ARRIVE AT THE MEAT PORTION OF THE MENU:
* goat chorizo flatbread w/peppers, green tomato, apricot and fresh ricotta. This was a small pizza-like dish. Oblong, and divided into 8 pieces, and crunch and delicious, the goat wasn't dramatically noticeable, but the chorizo was flavourful and spicy. Just as it should be.
* wood oven roasted pig face covered by a sunny-side egg with tamarind, cilantro and potato stix. This was touted as their signature dish. I half expected to find a little "face" staring up at us from the plate, but it was more of a patty, covered by a familiar sunny-side egg, and with tiny little hash-brown-esque potato sticks spread randomly around the plate. The ladies took a bite, and felt it was a bit too "greasy" for them, but my son-in-law and I thoroughly enjoyed this one... egg and all. Very smokey, very "porky", but quite good.
When the meal was over (am I full? I'm not stuffed, but I'm not hungry either... I guess I am full.)... we shared a couple of pleasant, but forgettable desserts, over some delicious Intelligensia coffees (apparently GAG has it's own blend), including the decaf, which was rich, full and flavorful.
(255 -29)
How did that translate into a pound?
I barely ate anything!
The RED LIGHT restaurant along Randolph Street in the West Loop of Chicago is an awesome place. It looks like French meets the Far East! This area of the West Loop has some great restaurants.
I always visit the West Loop and walk the streets to see the many changes that have occured in my community. I had always enjoyed the restaurants there and the many art galaries and the street fairs and shows. This is right down the street from Oprah's Studios. She was one of the first to settle into this part of the city. The views of the downtown were always an awesome sight. 
