The Other Critics

Girl and the Goat: Exemplar of Chicago Contemporary Cuisine

Izard on the restaurant's opening night.
Izard on the restaurant’s opening night. Photo: Huge Galdones/Grub Street Chicago

In his review of Girl and The Goat, Time Out Chicago critic David Tamarkin names Stephanie Izard’s restaurant a prime example — even a major driver — of something he calls Chicago Contemporary Cuisine. Defining this hard-to-pin town trend, Tamarkin says CCC is “grubby and pubby at its base … often accompanied by beer, and it venerates miscellaneous cuts of meat from an animal’s organs or forehead. It’s deceptively pricey … It claims European influences (but it’s really inspired by the Midwest). There are vegetables in Contemporary Chicago Cuisine, but they’re tossed with cheese or lard.” And at G&tG;, Tamarkin raves, Izard “ is not working within CCC’s framework so much as she is elevating it, moving it forward … she has improved upon every contemporary restaurant trend.” [TOC]

Girl and the Goat: Exemplar of Chicago Contemporary Cuisine