Fun Playing With Food in Chicago Part 3: Girl & The Goat

Our Monday dinner reservation at Girl & the Goat wasn't until 9:30pm, plenty of time to recover some appetite after our marvelous lunch at The Gage. We hopped a bus across town and arrived a little early, and so waited at the bar until our table was ready. There, we enjoyed two interesting beverages - mine a take on the classic Dark N Stormy, containing a local rum, house-made falernum, and Blenheim Ginger Ale, while Bob sipped a full bottle of the boldly flavored Blenheim Ginger Ale.

Girl & the Goat is one of Chicago's hottest reservations right now, and with good reason. Chef/owner Stephanie Izard and her team are cranking out small plates of creative food emphasizing local and sustainable ingredients, though I haven't found anything that explains the goat connection. Izard is doing for goat what The Purple Pig is doing for pork; there were some stylistic similarities between the two restaurants, though the food itself was rather different. The Girl & the Goat menu is divided into three categories: Vegetable, Fish, and Meat, however, while vegetable, fish, or meat are respectively the main stars of their categories, there are crossovers. Goat gets its own category, as do oysters and breads/spreads. There is also a separate dessert and cheese menu. Sadly, we hadn't emptied out enough to taste something from each menu, but we sampled a nice variety. The delicious food was matched, again, by outstanding service. 

Busta Rye, Smoked Salmon Cream, Pickled Relish

Breads are baked across the street from the restaurant, at Little Goat Bread. The bread, salmon spread, and relish (which thankfully included some veggies other than cucumber) were delicious, and well worth $4. The other bread varieties available that evening were beet and stecca (also known as baguette), and each was offered with a different spread, walnut vinaigrette and sweet garlic oil, respectively, also at $4.

Grilled Sepia, Smoked Tomato and Pipara Relish, Mighty Goat Sausage

Sepia is similar to squid. This version was tender to chew and the delicate smokiness it picked up from the grill was enhanced by the smoked tomato and piparra peppers, which are of Basque origin. The goat sausage finished off the dish without overpowering the more delicate elements.

pan fried shishito peppers   parmesan . sesame . miso

An interesting take on these zesty peppers successfully combined dairy with sesame and miso, which normally to my palate don't "go" together.

tempura loup de mer filet  . bacon  . sweet n' sour . tuna crema

Loup der mer is a type of seabass also known as branzino. This dish offered a strangely harmonious combination of bacon and tuna flavors under the fried fish, and again didn't allow the more assertive accompaniments to dim the star.

Confit Goat Belly, Bourbon Butter, Lobster & Crab, Fennel

Our favorite two bites of the evening - perfectly braised goat belly (who knew that there was such a thing, or that it could, in its own way, be as savory as pork?) enrobed with bourbony butter and plated with pristine chunks of lobster and crab meat. A pity that we reached capacity before licking up every drop.

It became apparent very quickly why Girl & The Goat is such a hot ticket in Chicago, and you don't even have to like goat to enjoy it! We, however, came away from dinner with a new appreciation for the versatility and flavor of goat - though a little lobster and bourbon don't hurt. Our fun playing with Chicago food would continue Tuesday night.

Fun Playing With Friends and Small Plates at Lolita

After our delightful Sunday brunch at Luxe, we proceeded to show our friend Cynthia around several Cleveland neighborhoods, including downtown (in full Browns home game mode - she marveled at the ease with which we transversed the downtown mayhem), Asiatown and University Circle. After stopping back home, we refreshed and headed to Tremont and Michael Symon's Lolita for dinner with friends. We stuck to small plates and pizza, and didn't need a single entree to achieve food nirvana.

Bone Marrow

The succulent bone marrow is an ideal start. Rich, rich, rich - but so worth it.

The Big Board

Lolita doesn't make as much charcuterie in-house as it used to, but no matter. We greedily devoured every morsel on this board - the pate at 11 o'clock was the winner, followed closely by a duck confit hiding under the crostini at 12. There was not a loser in sight.

Grilled Shishito Peppers - meyer lemon, feta, bread crumbs, oregano, anchovy vinaigrette

Simply delicious - not too spicy and perfectly balanced (and I "don't like" anchovies, either, but this was delicious). This dish highlighted why Chef Symon is so lemon zest-happy on The Chew - because it makes the food's other flavors pop.

Crispy Chicken Livers - soft polenta, mushrooms, bacon

Cynthia isn't a big chicken liver fan (I'm generally not either), but this plate got cleaned. Again, Symon's team perfectly nuanced the intense chicken livers against the gentle polenta and creamy bacon (and mushrooms, for those who love them). The head chef at Lolita these days is Chef James Mowcomber, who is doing an outstanding job. 

My plate with Chicken Liver,  Polenta and a Roasted Dates stuffed with almonds, bacon, chiles, parsley

My photo of the date plate didn't sing, but the food surely did. The stuffed date is an old favorite from the Lolita kitchen, but it never fails to please with its combination of sweet and savory.

Eggplant Dip with Lemon, Crunchy something (it was delicious) and oiled bread.

Babaganoush on steroids (or was it a Vitamix?). Best. Eggplant. Dip. Ever.

Fried Brussels Sprouts - capers, anchovies and walnuts

Ah, those pesky anchovies again! Guaranteed to please even the avid brussels sprout (or anchovy) hater!

Crispy Pig Tails & Ears - fennel-onion agrodolce, pickled chilies, cilantro

This took the prize for the most "interesting" dish of the evening. Both the sow's ear and it's tail were turned into silk purses, as far as we were concerned. The ear slices melted in the mouth with porky goodness. And the tail?

Crispy Pig Tails & Ears - fennel-onion agrodolce, pickled chilies, cilantro - close up

Simply delicious. Put aside whatever bias you have (and this is coming from a nice Jewish girl from New York) and get this while it's still on the menu. Period. And yes, this is finger food. You hands will get dirty and you will love licking off every morsel.

Pizza - Winter Squash, smoked mozzarella, apples, pancetta, onions, white balsamic.

This seasonal pizza is a worthy choice. I never thought I'd like apples on a pizza, but darned if this specimen didn't change my mind. And so, Lolita followed up most auspiciously on the territory staked out by Momocho and Luxe. Well played, Cleveland (and the Browns even won - ok, it was last week).

Early Monday morning, Cynthia took off for points south (Columbus). But Cleveland did itself proud this fine fall weekend, showing off the variety and quality of food available, at wallet-friendly price points, that made it the crown jewel of Midwest dining. Thank you Cleveland, and thank you Cynthia, for playing. I know that you were well rewarded with fun playing with your food, and that makes all the difference.