We went on Tuesday night, 8:45 pm 6 people. It was just as crowds started to diminish. When we were finished there were lots of empty tables.

6 people was a good sized group to have tastes of everything and get enough dishes to really sample the menu. It was very loud in there, so if you want to have a relaxing evening don't go! It's lively and fun, and I saw a lot of people I have seen working at other restaurants eating at the "bar" (the high table just at the front, is that a bar?).

The food was very heavy, even the fish and seafood dishes had sausage or bacon. I liked everything I tried, but it was a lot of heavy fatty dishes to have at one time. The wines were good. The default glasses are stemless, but if you ask they will bring stems. Service was good as well. Our table was awkwardly placed, the staff couldn't get between tables, and had to keep going around the table next to us if they wanted to pour wine or water.

It was fun, I enjoyed myself, but I'm not sure I'll rush back. One of my co-workers who went at a different time had the same impression. He felt the dishes were too heavily sauced, even things that were already hearty, fatty, dishes, and that there were not light dishes to balance that out.

My wife and I are interested in coming by on the later side, say 9:15 or so. We called for a reservation for tonight, Saturday, and they said they don't take it for 2, but invited us to come on by as the she claimed the crowds start thinning out then.

Any experiences with this? How quickly can we expect to get seated around that hour?

Thanks!

bshor wrote:My wife and I are interested in coming by on the later side, say 9:15 or so. We called for a reservation for tonight, Saturday, and they said they don't take it for 2, but invited us to come on by as the she claimed the crowds start thinning out then.

Any experiences with this? How quickly can we expect to get seated around that hour?

Thanks!

Really impossible to say, but I would think that crowds would be thinning at 9:15 (you could call them around then and get a more exact wait time?).

My friend and I had dinner here last night and had a wonderful time. Immediately upon walking in, I was a fan of the rustic chic decor and the overall atmosphere. Our server, Meadows, was great-- friendly, animated, energetic. We didn't have a reservation. It was 5pm and we were quoted a wait time of 75 minutes, but just as we were heading for the bar, a reservation canceled and we got a table. We lucked out and were seated at the two-top in front of the grill and saute station. I highly recommend asking for this chef/kitchen table if you can. It was really enjoyable socializing with Joe and AK throughout the night. The chefs and our server made us feel as if we were VIP when we clearly weren't haha

The cocktails were great. Not The Violet Hour, but clearly above the average restaurant drink. I prefer lighter/sweeter drinks so THE BEST OF THREE and RANDOLPH STREET SLING were perfect. My friend really liked his SAZERAC and AVIATION. Well done.

We shared 9 plates, and enjoyed everything tremendously.

Most favorite to least favorite:

SEARED SCALLOPS. pumpkin brandade. pecans. fried brussels sprouts. tarragon. pomegranate.
GOAT BELLY. stone crab claw. fennel. vanilla bourbon butter.
HAMACHI CRUDO. crisp pork belly. aji aioli. caperberries.
TORTONE. homemade bread. sweet onion butter. herb oil.
LAMB SAUSAGE STUFFED CALAMARI. sweet garlic. sweetbread crisp. currant soar.
SAUTEED GREEN BEANS. fish sauce vinaigrette. cashews.
BOURBON APPLES. cranberry. miso marcona almond. maple fat gelato.
GOAT, PORK, AND VEAL SUGO. pappardelle. rosemary. cape goose berries.
BITTERSWEET CHOCOLATE. shiitake gelato. toffee creme fraiche.


Seared scallops.


Stone crab claw.


Hamachi crudo.


Tortone.


Lamb sausage stuffed calamari.


Bourbon apples.


Bittersweet chocolate.

The food is creative, busy, and rich. A lot going on on each plate, but everything works! The desserts were delectable with unique flavor combinations, but the highlight of the meal was the homemade bread and savory courses. Dinner wasn't cheap so I wouldn't be able to eat here often...not to mention my heart probably didn't like how much belly (goat and pig), butter, fat, and other meat products I consumed in one sitting, but I would love to go back when the menu changes.

Wow - thank you for sharing and your photos are absolutely stunning.

So -- we showed up at 9:15 and were quoted a two hour wait; the place was pounding with sound and people. So THAT'S thinning out. What's busy?

We went to Sawtooth instead, the new upscale Vietnamese place at the end of Randolph. The food was really good, but it was almost deserted at that hour.

bshor wrote:So -- we showed up at 9:15 and were quoted a two hour wait; the place was pounding with sound and people. So THAT'S thinning out. What's busy?

We went to Sawtooth instead, the new upscale Vietnamese place at the end of Randolph. The food was really good, but it was almost deserted at that hour.

For future reference, the seats at the large bar are first come, first served.

We went on Thursday night Dec 1 and were 30 min late for our 930 reservation because our play ran way late. I called and they said to come on in. When we got there at 10, I thought it was Sat night. The place was packed. Great vibe, great decor and lots of beautiful people hanging out. We grabbed a cocktail at the bar and waited for a table. It took about 20 minutes. It really thinned out at 1130 pm. I couldn't believe it was that packed till then. Stephanie even came over and rapped a bit. Very sweet.

I thought the food was of extreme quality, cooked very well. There is just a lot of flavors going on in every dish. It was hard to "land" my taste buds on one thing. Will go back, but not for awhile. Will this place slow down soon you think? Stephanie said they are averaging 350 covers a night. Geez! Congrats

Got a table at 9:45 for NYE. Hope we get fed before 2011!

Was able to land a same day reservation yesterday for 6:45 to use up a gift card. We arrived about 10 mins early and waited about 5 mins before being seated 5 or so minutes early. Service was attentive and helpful the entire night. There was some discussion up thread about a lot of the F including M and our waiter went out of his way to make it clear they would accommodate my pescetarian wife.

As for the food, we had the shishito's which were an amped up cheesey version of what i'm used to and were gobbled up pretty quick, a great beer snack. The chickpea fritters were hands down my favorite veggie only item, expertly fried and creamy on the inside. Squash ravioli with mushrooms was fine, but a little sweet for me.

I had a few of the raw oysters because i wanted something cooling and fresh, they were served with the mignonette already on them, which was a shame because i would have preferred less. They were nice fresh specimens, but when it comes to similar restaurants doing oysters, stick to the Publican.

My wife had a seafood fideo which include shrimp, monkfish, clams and mussels. This version was nice and soupy and served with toasted bread to soak up the sauce. It wasn't listed on the menu but i'm pretty sure they put some coconut milk in the broth instead of cream because from a flavor standpoint it was somewhere between bouillabaisse and thai red curry, in other words very good.

Wood roasted pig face with potato sticks and sunny side egg is a dream breakfast dish, but was almost too much by then end after some serious over ordering.

AlekH wrote: It wasn't listed on the menu but i'm pretty sure they put some coconut milk in the broth instead of cream because from a flavor standpoint it was somewhere between bouillabaisse and thai red curry, in other words very good.

Harissa butter.

chezbrad wrote:

AlekH wrote: It wasn't listed on the menu but i'm pretty sure they put some coconut milk in the broth instead of cream because from a flavor standpoint it was somewhere between bouillabaisse and thai red curry, in other words very good.

Harissa butter.

Thanks

I went to G&tG for the first time earlier this week and came away from the experience with mixed feelings.

My friend and I arrived at about 4:50 with a plan to sit at the bar and have a few drinks and a light dinner before heading to the UC. Not entirely surprisingly (the place is still insanely popular and the bar is relatively small), there was only 1 open seat at the bar, although a few other seats that initally appeared open -- seats to which we were directed by the hostess -- had "reserved" cards in front of them. We decided to sit in the lounge area, which is adjacent to the bar. It's comprised of some low couches, a few low stools and coffee table-style tables. It doesn't provide a very functional vantage point for eating but it was comfortable enough.

We started out with a few drinks. I had some bourbon and my friend had a glass of wine. Spirit selection was above average, with some Van Winkle and Buffalo Trace Antique Collection bottles on the shelves. We didn't try any cocktails, though.

We tried 6 dishes, 2 from each of the 3 sections -- V(egetable), F(ish) & M(eat) -- of the menu . . .

roasted cauliflower - pickled peppers, pine nuts, mint
Definitely our favorite dish of the night. The cauliflower was roasted until tender but was not overly soft. It had a pronounced roasted flavor and the pickled peppers and pine nuts were both well-matched accompaniments.

chickpea fritters - romesco, hazelnut hummus, sesame, goat feta
These were good in the way that fried food is usually good -- hot and crispy. My favorite part of the dish was actually the duo of fresh and fried chickpeas that garnished the fritters. It was hard to really pick up the chickpea flavor in the fritters because, in part, the feta just completely overpowered the dish.

lamb sausage stuffed calamari - sweet garlic, sweetbread crisp, currant sasor
This was not a very successful dish. It smelled really fishy and not in an appetizing way. The sausage was not bound well, either. It was dry and crumbly, and its flavor was hard to discern over the pungent squid. On the positive side, the squid was cooked perfectly. It was tender and not chewy at all. Even our butter knives cut through it easily and cleanly but the dish was basically one stuffed squid and we left most of it uneaten.

bourbon poached lobster & crab - goat belly, fennel, vanilla bourbon butter
The proteins were cooked very well here and I really liked the mixed textures in the goat belly but the dish just screamed vanilla! It was really overpowering.

ham frites - smoked tomato aioli, cheddar beer sauce
This was basically a salt bomb -- maybe the saltiest fries I've ever been served. I couldn't really pick up the ham flavor-wise but visually, I could see little flecks of it throughout the frites. That probably added to the intense saltiness. I really liked the smoked tomato aioli but the cheddar beer sauce lacked flavor and had a gritty texture at the finish.

wood oven roasted pig face - sunny side egg, tamarind, cilantro, potato stix
There was a lot to like about this dish. The pig face was really flavorful and formed into a satisfyingly crispy cake. The egg had a perfectly runny yolk. However, the dish was overpowered by a maple gastrique which was way too sweet for my palate. I probably would have ordered the dish either way but it was a bit of a missed bet that such a prominent ingredient -- one that flavored every single bite of the dish -- wasn't even mentioned in the description on the menu.

I was really excited to try G&tG but felt a bit let down by our experience. I expected to love everything but that wasn't the case. I respect that there are a lot of risks being taken with the dish compositions and ingredient choices but felt like many of the items we tried needed some editing, refinement or tightening in one way or another. As busy as the place was -- by the time we left at 6:15 it was packed, with 90-minute waits for walk-ins -- I doubt that a lot of changes are imminent. Still, I'll go back in a few months and give it another shot. The menu had a lot of interesting offerings that we didn't get to try.

=R=

spiffytriphy wrote:LAMB SAUSAGE STUFFED CALAMARI. sweet garlic. sweetbread crisp. currant soar.


Lamb sausage stuffed calamari.

I meant to thank you for posting a picture of this. It always sounded like culinary frankenstein to me. I was very curious about how it looked but too aghast to order it.

We were at Girl and the Goat on Tuesday and sampled a few of the dishes.

The unanimous favorite was the scallops with pumpkin brandade, pecans, fried brussels sprouts, and pomegranate. It was delicious with different textures and flavors turning up with each bite. It was a beautiful plate as well.

The other dishes in the order that I liked.

2.) Tongue with Masa and Salsa Verde
3.) Pig's Face
4.) Bourbon Apple dessert
5.) Chickpea Fritters
6.) Lamb stuffed calamari
7.) Shishitos with miso

Felt that the place has a lot of good food that is sometimes masked by the PR, restauranteur slickness, and hype. The format seems to be really good for groups.

I'm so glad I made it back here sooner than anticipated (yesterday) with a couple other LTHers. We tried a few dishes and at least 3 of them were outstanding (more on this in a bit). It was like night and day from my first visit. First, even though it was Friday, there were still open seats at the bar until about 5:30. I realize now that the brisk early crowd at my first visit probably had a lot to do with there being a Bulls game that night. With no game in town on Friday the early scene was, surprisingly, much mellower than on the previous visit, which was on a Tuesday. I mention this only as a data point because being a fan of the industry, I'm very happy for any busy restaurant -- the busier they are, the happier I am -- even if it doesn't always work to my advantage.

In any case, the food was really tasty. It was what I'd originally expected -- innovative and edgy but also grounded in genuine delciousness. I thought the not-so-easy-to-tackle promise of (Midwestern) seasonality was carried out deftly and distinctively throughout all the dishes we ordered.

Goat Liver Mousseline - ham hock jus, apple mostarda, crumpets
This mousseline was really great -- supremely rich with a uniformly creamy consistency. The light, delicious, piping hot crumpets -- which seemed more like frybread to me -- had been finished in lard and you could really taste the pork, which was wonderful. 3 other house-made components served with the dish -- apple mostarda, pickles and picked corn kernels -- were all really tasty and varied enough in flavor to work harmoniously together without clashing. Together, they foiled the rich mousseline extremely well. This was a fantastic plate in every way.

Roasted Razor Clams - veal belly bits, yuzu harissa, parsley root, parsely tapenade
Another winner. The clams were tasty and cooked to tender perfection. The accompaniments really matched up well with the clams, especially the crispy bits of veal belly. There was a hint of heat and some nice acidity and aroma provided by the yuzu harissa, which unified the whole plate nicely.

Grilled Baby Octopus - serrano, treviso, celery root, braised pistachio, red bliss potatoes
Not the tenderest of octopus but not chewy either -- pleasantly al dente might be the best way to describe it. In the end, this dish was hard to gauge because it followed the razor clams and the heat from that dish left my palate a bit out of whack. There were subtleties here that might have been lost on me, given the sequence of how we ate the dishes.

Escargot Stuffed Pork Balls - spaghetti squash, kumquats, Chinese longbeans
We finished with this dish and it was sensational. The surprising combination worked extremely well and the execution was perfect. I loved the definition of the balls, which could not have been any better-made. The longbeans were tender but not overly so, with no mush to them at all. The kumquats, which I normally don't even like, added nice dots of countering tartness and bitterness to the richness of the pork. I appreciated that the squash was prepared in a completely savory way, with no sweetness added to it. I think this really took the dish to another level and it was a good call.

Service, provided by Veronica, was efficient, helpful and friendly. I'm really happy to have had such a great experience this time around -- one that definitely makes me want to return soon. This food was even better than the dishes I've had from chef Izard at various events over the past couple of years. It reminded me of watching her season of Top Chef and just wishing -- week after week -- that I could eat what she was cooking. Clearly, I did a horrible job of ordering on my first visit! This time, I left the task to my LTH friends who did a great job of it.

=R=

I felt pretty much the same way Ronnie did about our snacks, and liked the overall vibe at G&TG much more than I expected to. This was perhaps because I was in bit of a rush myself, so the harried pace of the place didn't bother me. I'm more typically looking for a nice, leisurely meal when I go out, and I'm not sure this would be the place. I'd go back anyway though, because I thought the food was fantastic. Unusual "I would have never thought of that" type combinations that - at least last night - worked exceptionally well.

thanks for all the suggestions - going tonight for the first time

amazing night. truly one of the best experiences I've had in the city. It was just myself and my wife. Service was awesome (our server was Brennen), friendly staff and fast refills of water from the bottle on our table. We got seated right at our reservation time. Food came out well paced - the next dish was almost always about 8-10 minutes after we'd finished the previous, which gave us time to settle and talk, sip wine, etc. Always in order from lightest to heaviest, great idea. I took pictures but only with my 3GS iPhone, so sorry for the quality, but at least you'll have an idea.


"Not Campbell's Soup" bread - broccoli cheddar bread with tomato/oil spread and mushroom soup butter


chickpeas fritters . romesco . hazelnut hummus . sesame . goat feta


seared scallops - goat sausage, pizza puff cruchies, goat creme fraiche, shrimp


lamb sausage stuffed calamari . sweet garlic . sweetbread crisp . currant saor


"fat" bread. goat liver butter, manquat compote


wood oven roasted pig face . sunny side egg . tamarind . cilantro . potato stix


bittersweet chocolate . shiitake gelato . toffee creme fraiche

Ronnie- I live 1 block away from G&TG and you are soooo right about the bulls games. From now on, I stay home whenever the hawks or bulls are home. The amount of people out quadriple

ronnie_suburban wrote:...had been finished in lard and you could really taste the pork, which was wonderful.

This may well be the best phrase I've read since I first began lurking here.

I'd been trying to get reservations for a couple weeks, but the best I could do was a Sunday afternoon in March. Too long to wait. We called the restaurant to see if they took walk-ins and they told us that they have a large bar area that's walk-in only.

We arrived at G&G around 5:30 on Friday, early enough to run into KennyZ and Ronnie. At that time there was plenty of open seating available. The open seating was full by 6, but I'm fairly certain that if you got there by 6:30 you wouldn't have to wait too long.

A combination of mixed reviews, a menu that read like a greatest hits of new American localvore cuisine, and sky-high expectations given the impossibly long reservations list had me prepared for a let down. We started the meal off with a couple cocktails that were pretty poorly executed. Mine lacked any depth and tasted like a watered down margarita (forgot the name). The other cocktail at the table was an aviation that was overwhelmingly boozy and lacked any of the refreshing character you'd expect from a well made aviation. Also I noted that the seasonal draft was a Gumballhead, which is a year-round offering that is usually associated with summer BBQs. I appreciate the focus on local beer, but something actually seasonal would have been nice. So at that point in the meal, I was fully prepared for a let down. Then the food came.

We started off with a couple of the fresh-baked breads that were piping hot with wonderful doughy texture. What an excellent way to warm up! Each loaf is served with two dipping sauces. I'm a sucker for dipping sauces, and I really liked the ones they served. Particularly noteworthy was the carrot-oil sauce that had a rich, nutty flavor. We dipped everything we got into those sauces until they were gone. Then came the ham frites which are french fries covered in ham salt and served with cheddar beer sauce. The fries were a little overdone, but I kind of like well done fries so they worked for me. The ham flavor was pronounced which matched the rich dipping sauce. The fries declined pretty fast so by the end they were just soggy and salty, but the first couple bites were delicious. We also devoured an order of the roasted brussels sprouts. Each of the small sprouts were cut in half and roasted to a dark brown color without being mushy. The nuttiness of the sprouts married beautifully with the almonds (I dipped it in the carrot oil to go for maximum nuttiness)

Then came the entrees. Textural contrast was a strength of many of the dishes. The beef tongue was sliced thin so it was very tender and carried a lot of flavor from the salsa verde. Also it was served with very crispy masa chips that countered the tender meat. Similarly the pig face was formed into a disc with thin cut fries and fried so it was crunchy. It was served with a runny egg on top. We also enjoyed the bourbon poached lobster which definitely had notes of vanilla as mentioned above, but tasted well balanced and not too buttery to my bourbon loving palate.

For dessert we had the pork fat fried doughnuts with sesame semifreddo. This was a strangely Asian tasting dish due to the sesame, and the doughnuts had the distinct flavor of animal fat. Definitely unique and worth trying.

So overall I have to say I was impressed by the food at Girl and Goat. This is new American cuisine at its creative and technical best. Rather than bombard your palate with unique flavors or off-the-wall preparations, instead they paired each item with flavors that highlight the texture and flavor of the main ingredient. It'll be interesting to see how the menu changes with the seasons, because the food was certainly rich this time around, but it's the dead of winter so that's to be expected.

What the F is "ham salt?" Anyone?

Habibi wrote:What the F is "ham salt?" Anyone?

Ha. Not sure what it was, that's just what I called it. It was a salty, brownish powder that tasted like ham. And it was sprinkled all over the fries.

turkob wrote:I'd been trying to get reservations for a couple weeks, but the best I could do was a Sunday afternoon in March.

They start accepting reservations three months to the day ahead, and the ones for weekends sell out quickly. For example, if you need a two-top for Saturday April 16, there's already nothing open between 5:45 and 9:30.

turkob wrote:We called the restaurant to see if they took walk-ins and they told us that they have a large bar area that's walk-in only.

From the G&tG website: "She accepts reservations but always keeps tables open for walk-ins, nomads, dreamers, and those of you who don’t like to plan."

Mrs. D and I dined here Saturday night 1/15. We arrived about three minutes before our reservation and were immediately seated at a two-top. Unfortunately, table spacing was overly tight and I had to do a tall person's version of the limbo to seat myself as the back of my chair was already in contact with the person's chair immediately behind me.

I think I over-anticipated this place because I left disappointed. The noise level and frenetic vibe of the place was off-putting to both of us and the food was good, but not great, IMO.

We started with the "miso hungry" bread plate - nicely done with a small bowl of dip and a small bowl of spread. The lightly oily dip was very good, the spread, not so much flavor at all.

My next plate was the chickpea fritters and Mrs. D went with the green beans. The fritters and whole-fried chickpeas tasted good but weren't very crispy and I felt the textural difference woudl have made the dish more enjoyable. I would have liked them cooked longer. The green beans were good an we ate them all!

Mrs. D's third plate was the scallops and I chose the skirt steak. Two lonely little scallops and probably 2-3 ounces of tough skirt steak failed to satisfy. By this time I was tired of the noise and being bumped from behind so we paid our check and left.

GaTG is just not our cup of tea. But I congratulate Ms. Izard on what seems to be a wildly successful venture!

Davooda

it's funny how different people react to the same place

I loved the vibe and music was spot-on for my tastes. I think I knew the words to every song they played and these are not radio songs. Also the noise level was average for us, not too loud at all. We did go on a Sunday though which might have factored into that.

I agree Chitown - and I left feeling badly that we had taken a table from someone that probably would have really enjoyed being there! I've made the transition from being an aging hipster to a non-hispter, I guess

Chitown B wrote:it's funny how different people react to the same place

Me, I'd go one step beyond relativism and argue that G&G is simply an erratic restaurant. I've been there many times and the hit-to-miss ratio has rarely been better than 1-1, and that's hewing to the side of generous: too often the mechanics of her dishes are such that you have keep to trying different combination of dish components to get one platonic mouthful. Too much work for what sometimes only amounts to 1-2 payoffs.

yeah, again, we loved every single dish we tried. So it's definitely a personal preference thing - but I'd go back there once a week if I could afford it. Being that for two it was $115 before tip kinda kills that.