Chicago: Goat Restaurant Group

One thing we have learned, by living vicariously through our son Dylan, is that the restaurant industry has changed so much since the 80’s and 90’s. Kitchens used to be a group of cooks, locked in the back, sweating over hot stoves and boiling pots of water . . . a truly miserable work environment. Today, that is not the case. Most restaurants, even some fine dining establishments, are using the open kitchen environment so you are able to see your food being prepared. This, in my opinion, has added to the dining experience.

Having 2 kids living in Chicago, we now are becoming frequent visitors to the area. Being the foodies we are, and the fact that Dylan is a chef, we are really into the food scene there. We are, of course, especially interested in places that Dylan works or has worked and their chef owners. Here in Detroit, Dylan spent nearly 3 years at Grey Ghost. They are, by far, one of the best restaurants in the city! While there, he worked under chefs that all trained in Chicago and they encouraged him to go there to gain work experience.

He was fortunate to land a position with the BOKA Restaurant Group. More specifically the Goat restaurants. If you are not familiar with Chicago, you might ask: ”What are the Goat Restaurants”? They are a group of restaurants in Chicago, that comprise of Girl & The Goat, Duck Duck Goat, The Little Goat Diner and Cabra (Spanish for Goat) which are Co-Owned by Chef Stephanie Izard. Stephanie was the winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 4 in 2009 and the Iron Chef Gauntlet in 2017 against Bobby Flay, Michael Symon and Masaharu Morimoto, which launched her into fame as a celebrity chef. Her last name, Izard, is a type of Pyrenees Mountain Goat in France. Hence the Goat in all her restaurant names.

Our son, Dylan Becker, said that she came into the restaurant on a regular basis and that she is an absolute delight to work with. No verbal abuse when something goes wrong. No harsh scoldings. Truly a pleasant person.

GIRL AND THE GOAT

Let’s start with her first venture, Girl and the Goat, located at 809 W. Randolph. Girl and the Goat opened in 2010 and was one of the first restaurants in Chicago’s famous Restaurant Row in the West Loop. In 2013, Stephanie won the James Beard award, for best chef in their Great Lakes Region. Walking in, we immediately felt a very familiar feeling. It has the same vibe as Dylan’s previous employer, Grey Ghost, only on a larger scale. It is dimly lit, but not too dark and there is always a lively playlist of music.

We sat at the bar, our favorite place to sit, and as always we ordered multiple plates to share amongst all of us.

We started with the Tomato & Stone Fruit - tahini tofu, sesame-chili vinaigrette, pickled veggies and fried quinoa which gave a nice crunch to a veggie dish. Next was an order of Roasted Shishito Peppers with miso-sesame vinaigrette and parmesan cheese and some Goat Empanadas with smoked blueberry, piparra, and idiazabal cheese which were incredible. For mains we had the Wood Fired Branzino which is served whole with Thai sweet n’ sour, a mung bean pickled salad, pickled veggies and stone fruit.

Next . . . Pan Roasted Halibut with miso marcona almond butter, blueberry nuoc cham and a limey-herb dressing. Lastly the Sticky Glazed Pork Shank served with a mixed grape and tomato salad, chili melons, hoisin and hot mustard and a side of Woodfire Sprouted Caulilini an Asian style of baby cauliflower similar to broccolini in looks but not taste. Everything was delicious and we wanted to order more but had reached our limit.

CABRA

Next, there is Cabra, Stephanie’s Peruvian-Inspired roof top restaurant located on the roof of the Hoxton Hotel at 200 N. Green St, just a few minutes north of Girl & the Goat. Why the name Cabra? Well it is Spanish for Goat, easy enough. Being a rooftop restaurant they have some spectacular daytime and nighttime views of Downtown Chicago.

Cabra’s food is meant to be enjoyed family-style on sharable plates that are “bold in flavor and bright in taste” Since it is a Peruvian style restaurant there are a number of Ceviche’s on their menu as well as other cold seafood and vegetable dishes. There were 7 of us so we almost ordered the entire menu.

We started with the Hot Chorizo & Queso Dip served with sweet potato chips and grilled flatbread. Next was their Tuna Tataki, Salmon Ceviche, Mushroom Ceviche and Salmon Ceviche.

Next up was the Jalea Mixta which was sort of like a shrimp and calimari nachos with fried plantain chips and Solterito which is fried cheese with green beans, pickled rhubarb cucumber and herby chimi. Then it was the Chicken Thigh Anticucho and some Salchipapas which are fries with fried chorizo, Amarillo mayo and chipcrunch…they were sooo good.

We are not done yet…how about some Empanadas? Specifically the Goat Empanadas and Aji De Gallina Empanadas which are a chicken comfort food.

We are not done but we are getting close…Time for the main dishes. First the Steak Saltado and Salmon Saltado, then the Pollo A La Brasa, a ½ Cornish hen with yuca fries and lastly the Chicharron De Puerco which I feel stole the show! It is a skin on fatty pork shank slow roasted to perfection them deep fried to make the perfect crispy outer skin. They serve it with tongs so you can pull out the meat. Awesome presentation!

We were too full for desert but they brought it anyway…some homemade doughnuts, chocolate mousse and soft serve ice cream.

LITTLE GOAT DINER

Lastly is the one restaurant Dylan has not worked at but is part of the group. Little Goat Diner has 2 locations. The one we went to is located at 3325 N. Southport in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood . . . not far from Wrigley Field. It is exactly what it says in the name, a Diner, but not your typical “greasy spoon” diner. They are a diner in the sense that they are open from 7AM to 3PM and serve breakfast and lunch. However, the food is not your typical breakfast and lunch food.

We were here just a week after it opened and did not have reservations but we were able to get seated at their outdoor patio. We started with the Cinna-Monkey Bread which is a decadent cinnamon roll and sells out quickly.

Next was an order of their Chili Crunch Cheese Fries, crispy fries with a white cheese sauce and topped with their signature chili-crunch spice and scallions…delicious. There we 6 of us so we had a wide variety selections. The Avocado toast as amazing (Teresa’s words) and was served on a multigrain bread with strawberries, pickled veggies, and pistachio seed crunch. You can barely see the toast, because there is so much stuff on it!

They have several pancake options, but Adam chose the Straight Up Pancakes, which were of course zhuzhed up.

The Little Goat Rueben was also very good, served on a hearty rye bread with corned beef, kimchi, kraut and Havarti cheese. I opted for Corned beef hash with eggs, it was good but definitely not the top dish at the table. This is the one that looked the most interesting, the This Little Piggy sandwich. Served on a scallion cheddar biscuit with a sunny side up egg, Sichuan pork sausage, chili-garlic sauce and blackberries.

Duck Duck Goat located at 857 W. Fulton We have not visited this restaurant (yet) but our son Dylan has been there and said (of course) that’s it’s amazing!