I Tried Top Chef Stephanie Izard’s Girl & the Goat Restaurant, & it was Amazing!
I love Top Chef. Stephanie Izard won season 4 (in 2008), and I heard she had a Girl and the Goat restaurant in Chicago. Unfortunately my Chicago trip was all work and meetings, so I didn’t get to check out sites or restaurants I had in mind. Stephanie opened a second Girl & the Goat restaurant in Los Angeles July 2021, so a couple friends and I headed to Downtown LA to try.
Restaurant Location
Downtown LA, arts district. There is valet parking, but not much street parking. We were in Little Tokyo so we left our car around there and walked a mile or so to Girl and the Goat. It isn’t by much else other than other restaurants and parked cars. The restaurant looked very beautiful – see header photo.
Ordering and Such
We were seated promptly (we made a reservation in advance) and were given water and our menus. The plates came out one at a time, so family style is the way to go. Here’s what we ordered!
Duck Tartare
Menu description – with gochujang mayo, sesame, cherums, fried brussels. We’ve had other tartares before, such as beef/steak, salmon, tuna, etc., but never duck. Duck tartare sounded rather interesting so we tried it. OMG, it was so amazing! The crispy brussels sprouts were so perfect and everything went so well together. I’d never know I was eating raw duck, haha. The duck was a bit hidden under the crispies and the veggies, but it looked beautiful – dark reddish and all uniformly cut. We all wished there was more!
King Salmon Poke
Menu description – with chili crunch, avocado, strawberry. Strawberry in poke? That’s a first for me too, and it was surprisingly wonderful. Salmon, avocado, the sauce, and the furikake-like things were pretty standard, but this was a really good dish. It didn’t feel as special as the duck tartare though, but that’s alright. Yum!
Beef Short Rib
Menu description – with ruby red grapefruit, avocado, pickled jalapeño. OMG, so tender! What an amazing beef dish. It’s another small plate, as all things on the menu, so one of these will not get us full. We were all impressed by the flavors melding together oh so harmoniously. Mmmmm!!
Lamb Sirloin Skewer
Menu description – with yuzu-cilantro, pickled rhubarb relish. Wow, this lamb was very tender. The texture was pretty uniform and it was easy to divide. My friends really liked the lamb, and I liked the beef one a bit more. The lamb did taste a bit lamb-y, a bit more so than some other lamb skewers, but it wasn’t bad. The flavors were really good and everything went well together.
Sunrise Spritz (Lychee, Galangal, Hibiscus Soda) and Takin’ Care of Bee’s Knees (Beefeater gin, galangal, honey, dandelion root)
I love me some gin! The cocktail menu looked so good that I couldn’t decide which drink I really wanted to try so I asked our waiter and he recommended the Bee’s Knees. I love gin, so I decided to try that one! It was really good. Not too sweet, decently strong, and extremely beautiful. A friend tried the Sunrise Spritz, a non-alcoholic cocktail. It was bigger, and also very beautiful. I absolutely loved the flowers in the drinks. They are edible flowers (saw them in some desserts), but we left the flowers in there. I was tempted to take them home, but nah.
Dessert Time!
We each ordered a dessert and liked the ones we ordered best, LOL.
- Mango Sticky Rice – mango tamarind ice cream, pickled green mango, coconut cloud, watermelon granita. See those flower petals? Those look like they’re from the same flower that my gin drink had! The coconut cloud was coconut-y and extremely soft. The soft texture was very different than the sticky rice stuff underneath, and the mango tamarind ice cream was a good in-between balance to the other 2 textures. This actually really tasted like the mango sticky rice desserts in Thai restaurants. So good!
- Sesame Cookies & Cream Scoop – The flavor is so unique to me, but it was pretty good. The cookies n cream gives it an amazing texture and sesame ice cream isn’t bad!
- Salted Caramel & Toffee Scoop – The toffee was amazing! Nice crunchy texture to the salted caramel ice cream. I’m not a caramel fan, but this was pretty good.
Plants Are In
Not sure if it’s a coincidence or if plants are just in these days. I’ve been seeing a lot more plant-themed interiors and exteriors popping up over the past couple years. It’s really beautiful and I wished I took more photos. The interior plants and exterior plants really tie in to their plants/flowers in their drinks.
The Damage
We had a nice tasting at Girl and the Goat, and we would all definitely come back to try more stuff on the menu. The food portion was rather small, and based on how each plate was delivered one at a time makes us think it’s a family style thing. If we were each ordering for ourselves, we would need around a plate from each menu section to feel full. We’d definitely order more if money wasn’t an issue, but are def happy that we tried several things that evening. The dessert was a bit filling, at least my mango sticky rice was. They are open for brunch too, so perhaps we’ll try that next time when I’m back in the area. Cheers!
