Girl and the Goat with Amy, Andrew, and Ed

I've blogged the Rose Mary dinner, now for the other Top Chef meal.  Girl and the Goat, now a Chicago establishment, the flagship for Stephanie Izard since she became the first woman (and first Chicago chef) to win the show back in season 4.  I hadn't been in years although I had been to the LA outpost with Conrad and Van and had also been to Little Goat a couple of times when that was still open.  It would prove to be a welcome return.

I am a fan of Chef Izard.  During her season, she showed time and again that she was creative, technically skilled, managed her time well, and wasn't into drama.  Immensely likable on television, small wonder there was such buzz for Girl and the Goat when it opened - the fans wanted it.  And she delivered.  The first time we went there many years back, Conrad and I were joined by vegetarian friends.  For a restaurant that has goat as part of its name and identity, Girl and the Goat delivered on vegetables.  We had a wonderful meal.  Since the restaurant wasn't too far a walk from work, I went a few times after that for early bites with friends.  I don't think, however, that I had been back since we moved to SoCal.

Sunday dinner at conference was a nice little group affair, with Amy, Andrew, and Ed joining me and Conrad.  Three friends I absolutely treasure, and I know they all like good food, so I was excited about our meal.  The five of us rode the green line several stops, then walked on down to the restaurant.  We had a nice table tucked just inside the door, which gave us a view of the street or the busy restaurant interior.  We ordered cocktails - the Sun Kid for me

- and then food.  Ready? Here we go:

Green garlic brioche. 

Who doesn't love starting with some bread?  This was tasty!

Chickpea fritters. 

Oh, I loved these.  These were a surprise - no one was wowed about them on seeing them on the menu, but my gosh were they tender and good.

Goat empanadas. 

And I loved these as well.  A cocktail, two rounds of these, and a green vegetable, and we would have been happy with just that.

Roasted asparagus. 

Quite fine.

Pan-roasted halibut. 

Cooked nicely, and it was good, but it was also just halibut.  Happily, I rather like halibut.

Roasted pig face. 

Yum!  So good.  I love that they are getting that meat and using it.

I didn't get photos of the other four savoury dishes, but we had kohlrabi salad, grilled kalbi short ribs, wood fired chicken, and crispy pork belly.  The pork belly was good - I often find that pork belly is crispy outside and then a ton of fat, and this wasn't nearly so fatty.  The ribs were my least favourite course.  Not bad, just kind of chewy and alright.

For dessert, we got all of them.  All four. 

I wish that restaurants would post their dessert menus online more consistently.  I can't remember what all four were, but there was one that I think was an homage to ball parks with caramel and corn involved,  It was also the best of the four.  I liked the desserts, but they all struck me as more or less some sort of cake base with an ice cream, and some greater variety would have been terrific.  But I quibble, and we did finish off all of those desserts, after all. 

All in all, a terrific meal.  A couple of items that didn't shine as brightly, but nothing at all that I didn't like, and lots more that I would have been happy to try.  Aside from our friends being such good company, a group meant we could try and share a lot more from the menu than just two of us would.  We had such a nice night, then capped it off with drinks back at the hotel with some others.  And oh yes, I'd be very happy to go back to Girl and the Goat again some day. 

date night at Rose Mary

Conrad and I have been fans of the show Top Chef for quite some time now.  I think the first season I watched was the 3rd, set in Miami, and I confess that it was in part because I was channel surfing, landed on it, and thought that Dale Levitski (the runner up that season) was cute.  I wish I knew what he was up to these days - I'd be glad to try what he's cooking lately.  Anyway, I got Conrad into watching with me quite a while back, and since then we've dined at multiple Top Chef contestant restaurants.  On this past trip to Chicago, we managed two, in fact.  One meal with friends, and I'll blog that soon enough, and one date night for the two of us at Rose Mary.

Season 15 of the series was set in Colorado, spending most of its time in Denver.  Going in to the season, we were rooting for Bruce Kalman, who had a restaurant in Pasadena we'd dined at previously (and although he's long gone from Union, we were back there again recently).  He went far, but not all the way.  And that's fine - the show has been so good over the years at giving viewers a lot of cheftestants who make appealing food and who seem to be good personalities.  Folks online will often point to the Colorado season as when Top Chef fully shifted into embracing decent people making good food instead of trying for some drama to liven things up.  No matter when that trend started, it is something I also welcomed.  I like when the focus is the food, and I like when seemingly good people succeed.

Joe Flamm was one such personality.  Oh, his food was good, from what we saw.  We'd even eaten at the restaurant he was at, Spiaggia (now closed), although a handful of years or more before we knew anything about Flamm.  He was a regular kind of guy from the south side of Chicago, friendly with the cast, causing no drama, not being all "bro" about things.  He got along, and he got through.  Until he didn't.  Out he went on a challenge - a quickfire, if I recall correctly - and it felt like a shock.  Nonetheless, he battled back through the Last Chance Kitchen route and into the competition again.  He won the finale, and it was a win warmly received by the viewership, I think.  We certainly felt he was deserving.

He has shown up a few times in a guest/judge capacity on the show, his regular guy self and droll humour juxtaposed against a sharp knowledge of food and cookery and empathy for the contestants.  Always welcome on the television.  He left Spiaggia, or perhaps it closed first, and opened his own restaurant in Chicago, Rose Mary, an homage to his Italian and Croatian heritage.  From what I read on Reddit, it was a great place, highly recommended.  When Conrad and I decided to skip the Monday night gala at conference, I remembered Flamm and his restaurant and booked a dinner for two there.

We hopped the green line for the second of three days in a row up to the Morgan stop and strolled the block to the restaurant.  Situated on a corner in Fulton Market, it is bright inside, open and airy.  We asked if we could be seated at the bar instead of a table, and the hostess cheerily obliged.  We found ourselves down at the window end of the bar, sitting where we could watch the whole bar and see the kitchen as well.  

Conrad opted for a Last Word, and I had the Blind Rhubarber. 

Excellent choice, and I might have wanted another, but we decided on wine with dinner.  We asked the bartender for his advice, and he suggested a bottle of a Bulgarian red would be nice with our food. 

He was right.  He was a terrific bartender, taking good care of us both in terms of drinks and advice on food and chatting a moment when he was able to.  And he had a treat or two for us to come.

First up:  tuna crudo. 

This was a smart variation on vitello tonnato, a classic Italian dish of veal and tuna.  I know, sounds awful, that combo.  This took slices of tuna and sat them on a veal aioli.  Smart rethinking of the dish.  Oh, and crispy capers?  Yes, please!

Next out:  zucchini fritters. 

We saw these head to a lot of tables, and understandably so.  The pesto aioli for dipping was an excellent complement, too.

For our main, the bone-in lamb saddle. 

The lamb was terrific, and I liked the surprise of the roasted carrots being a puree (I'm stealing that idea).  Conrad was surprised by and enjoyed the pistachios, which had been cooked (steamed? boiled?) to make them tender.  At this point came the first surprise from the bartender:  a complimentary serving of the grilled summer squash dish. 

Isn't that gorgeous?  The basil was such a good, fragrant touch.  We were delighted. 

We ordered the povitica for dessert,

and I asked for the bartender's choice of an amaro duo. 

While we waited for those, the second surprise came out:  Chef Flamm himself.  I hope I wasn't too much of a fanboy.  He talked with us for a few minutes, and it was easy conversation.  Sometimes what you see on television is what you get:  a good guy with a regular and relatable personality, making his guests feel welcome.  He agreed to a photo with us,

wished us a good evening, and headed back to his kitchen.  We were left a little giddy and starstruck.

Dessert came - I'm a sucker for flavours like rhubarb and cardamom - and we devoured it happily.  I sipped the amari, savouring them both.  It was a nice evening when we left, so we decided on taking the train back and then popping into the Marriott Marquis to have a last nightcap with ALA friends.

Rose Mary is one of those places where I want to try everything on the menu.  Whenever I told locals that we were going there, they ooo-ed over it.  I can see why.  If I lived nearby, I'd want to be a regular at that bar, enjoying the different dishes and having excellent drinks.  Meeting Joe Flamm was a huge bonus, but I was already very very persuaded that it is a great restaurant.  I'll go back, and I'll recommend it to folks quite happily.