Yes, there’s goat on the menu (in curry, mousse and T-bone form) at the Arts District spin-off of chef Stephanie Izard’s popular Chicago restaurant. But really the biggest theme here is crunch. Almost every dish comes topped with a satisfying crackle: pepitas on the shrimp salad, chili crunch on the king salmon poke and quinoa crispies on the naan-accompanying whipped-tofu tahini (paired with a fresh carrot-based hummus).
It’s just one of the ways Girl & the Goat bakes a sense of fun into its five-part small plates menu, which balances complexity with unfussy charm in the kind of laid-back, plant-covered warehouse setting that you’d expect from the neighborhood. For example—as we skip straight to dessert—there’s the playfully-titled popcorn situation, a cheesy, buttery cake dressed with a scoop of smooth, popcorn-flavored ice cream and a fistful of popped kernels. Like a bucket of movie theater popcorn, expect to devour it no matter how stuffed you are.
Rewinding a few courses, the rough outline of the Chicago menu makes the jump here with a few L.A.-centric alterations, which during our summertime visit meant lots of seasonal berries. Just about every meaty main, both by land and sea, comes served with some source of sweetness (the flavorfully balanced roasted chicken tames its not-so-spicy Szechuan chili sauce with a bed of vanilla bean yogurt and some sliced grapes). But the most addicting dish, one of the few straight-up Chicago carryovers, is all savory: sautéed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews that’ll leave you wondering how many orders is too many.
Speaking of, a plate from each of the five menu sections (plus dessert) should be plenty for a pair of diners. The prices are pretty reasonable, too, for dinner in the Arts District, especially if you forgo a cocktail (the only letdown on the menu) in favor of something from the mostly SoCal-based beer list.
