One Great Dish: Little Goat Diner's Goat Chili
By Chuck Sudo in Food on May 2, 2013 7:30PM
Last year I wrote that the burger at Au Cheval, which Bon Appetit claimed may be the best burger in America, was "the culinary equivalent of a Michael Bay movie."
I still stand by that and extend that to the overall Au Cheval experience. Oh, it's fun for what it is, but Brendan Sodikoff's stylized take on the diner isn't rooted in any reality with which I'm familiar. Compared to dining at Stephanie Izard's Little Goat, located just west of Au Cheval on West Randolph, I will be hard pressed to ever return to Au Cheval.
Izard gets the diner experience, possibly because she's spent many nights in the no man's land between last call and sunrise replacing alcohol with greasy food. Though you'll never mistake Little Goat's menu for those of Chicagoist's favorite diners, it's still an inspired homage with touches of Izard's whimsical personality sprinkled throughout.
The goat chili is one of the better dishes on the menu, with heaping chunks of goat meat served with cheddar, sour cream pickled vegetables and "pizza poofs" for an added crunch — no need for oyster crackers here. The flavor of this chili runs more sweet than spicy, which is great. The star of the dish should be the rich goat meat and too much spice would detract from that.
A cup of Little Goat's goat chili will set you back $6; a bowl is $9 and will feed two people.
Little Goat Diner is located at 820 W. Randolph Street.