Anthony Bourdain's 'Happy Place' In Chicago Was The GOAT (Pun Intended)

If there's one thing the late culinary celebrity Anthony Bourdain could do with inimitable charisma, it was cut through the noise and nail what made a restaurant worth loving. The television host, world traveler, and writer also had an uncanny knack for distilling the essence of the spots he visited. And his assessment of Girl & The Goat, one of Bourdain's overall favorite restaurants in Chicago, as a joyful locale is high praise indeed from the (sometimes) curmudgeonly industry insider.

In season 2, episode 1 of "The Layover," which centers on the Windy City, Bourdain partakes of regional pastimes like lamenting the Cubs and debating the merits of deep dish before landing at Girl & The Goat. "This is, indeed, a happy place," he asserted, after remarking on the restaurant's substantial size, its kitchen's equally abundant staffing, and delicious eats, such as kohlrabi salad with blueberries in a ginger vinaigrette, roasted beets with green beans, kale, and anchovies, and escargot ravioli. 

Chatting with Girl & The Goat owner and "Top Chef" winner, Stephanie Izard, the two each noted the relative novelty of these and other items in the midwestern city's hospitality landscape. Izard observed that in spite of a proclivity for meat and potatoes, "Chicagoans are like, just big foodies," with expansive palates to match. And such foods to please said tastes would likely make anyone as happy as they made Bourdain.

Girl & The Goat still operates at its first Chicago address in the West Loop, with another outpost in Los Angeles. While the west coast follow-up is bright, sunny, and verdant with plant life, the original is as dimly lit and chicly industrial as it was when Anthony Bourdain visited. Some of the menu items he sampled, like the kohlrabi salad and beets, remain as well.

A pig face dish Bourdain said tasted like victory is also still available, plated with a sunny egg, and what's listed as potato stix — like the crunchy, nostalgic snack you can use as a garnish for casseroles. There are also, of course, the titular goat dishes. The goat belly Bourdain sampled, with a lobster and bourbon butter, is now given the confit treatment and paired with apple two ways. The protein also appears in empanadas and as a goat liver mousse that's served with crumpets and golden beet giardiniera — another item known to bring a smile to Chicago diners, which is a take on the giardiniera that's typically made with peppers and other pickled veggies.