Subject: No-wires, no-hooks and no-digging straps

From: "Genie Zip Bra" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 19:05:40 -0700

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Masters in a few weeks! He'll always be number 2, though! Anyway, I would go back to GATG if someone else is paying. But I gotta save up some cash otherwise! On a recent trip to the Windy City, I was pleasantly surprised with the great selection of first class restaurants the city had to offer. Only able to choose one, I opted for The Girl and the Goat; a James Beard Award recipient and brainchild of "Top Chef" star, Stephanie Izard. A rustic, yet trendy space, the Girl and the Goat is a great place for dates or groups. Equipped with a small lounge/waiting area, a bar in the center of the restaurant, and a fairly large dining room off to one side, this West Loop eatery is a "must visit" if ever your travel itinerary finds you in Chitown... just don't expect to get in without a reservation (or waiting AT LEAST an hour to be seated if not). Though we didn't order a dish reflective of the restaurant's moniker (goat), I certainly can't forget to mention some of the crafty creations
we did order... parmesean pan fried shisito peppers, diver scallops in brown butter kimchee, grilled baby octopus, pan seared halibut. Are any of you guys out there music fans? You remember when Radiohead released "In Rainbows" for free, and there was all that hype? Remember how you thought there was no way it could have been good enough to live up to it, but then it met and exceeded your expectations? Well, the Girl and the Goat is that in restaurant form. I give you license to believe everything you hear about it. We started with cocktails; all the ones we sampled are good, but the Smoking Jacket (a sort of Old Fashioned made with Old Forrester Bourbon and a whiff of tobacco smoke) is the clear winner, in terms of sheer innovation. The food is delectably hedonistic; we ate so many amazing dishes, so I'm only going to hit the high points. The goat carpaccio with green olives, capers, and watercress is surprisingly light and refreshing, and has a flavor profile which feels familiar
and distinctive all at the same time. While I am usually miffed when a place charges for bread, the one we sampled (made with beet flour and pork fat, and served with candied walnuts and goat cheese butter) definitely makes one forget this minor nuisance. Mussels are impossibly large and meaty, and are served in a piquant herb broth with goat sausage croutons (how the hell does one get goat sausage in a crouton? Seriously. Whatever, it's delicious). Seared pork cheek, topped with a fried egg and served with tamarind sauce, is (according to one of my dining partners) a playful take on a Filipino specialty; whatever its etiology, it's a very impressive dish. Escargot ravioli with bacon and octopus with guanciale, wax beans, and pistachio vinaigrette are both fantastic takes on classic cephalopod creations, thoroughly varied in texture and flavor. Desserts were all spectacular; in my humble opinion, the star was the impossibly dark chocolate cake, flavored with thai chili and served w
ith peanut ice cream and pomegranates. This is food I don't think you can eat anywhere else, so I could swallow the large bill; by no means exorbitant for the quality and quantity that we ate, but