Girl and The Goat

Stephanie Izard is pretty much my idol. A successful female entrepreneur, visionary and damn. good. chef. Her restaurant, The Girl & The Goat, has only been open for one year, in which time I have only had the pleasure of eating at twice (mostly because reservations at normal eating hours are ridiculous to come by and I'm not cool enough to "know" somebody). In that one year Stephanie Izard has managed to snag raving reviews from Time Out Chicago, Saveur magazine, Food & Wine and was nominated for the 2011 James Beard Best New Restaurant Award. ONE YEAR. And before that she was the first female winner of Top Chef. Legit.

This past weekend two of my girlfriends couldn't make our rez for four, so the lucky two of us who were left got to sit right at the kitchen bar. If you want to have a romantic, boring dinner, don't sit right in front of the kitchen, but if you want to have fun and watch the artists at work and chat about the food, where it comes from, the chefs favorites and of course, other boring people eating at the restaurant, then the "best seat in the house" is just that. A bottle of red wine, Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpea fritters, Braised Beef, Pork Ribs and a ton of laughs with the staff later I decided that this is what the other side must be like.

And Taye Diggs.

Good thing I’m compiling my “it’s too cold to breathe outside” list. Here’s to #1 on my cooking projects list: Girl & The Goat Recipes