Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/123336
TASTE RIGHT: The Sloppy Goat, made with Sloppy Joe Gone Goat, rosemary slaw, and a Squish Squash Roll. BELOW: The bar area serves craft beer and specialty cocktails with the smell of fresh-baked goods nearby. 72 Sammies are built with specialty breads made by Greg Wade (BELOW). BAKER'S MAN Three queries for Greg Wade, head baker at Little Goat Bread. Your bread program is very eclectic. What inspires you to make some of the loaves, like the beet or tortone? Sometimes Steph and I talk about flavors, textures, and combinations that would work well. Sometimes, like with our sourdough, it's just how I feel it should be done. Since your bread kitchen is behind large windows, do you ever feel like you're on display? Do you want to put on a show? I like that people can see what we are doing and that we are doing things properly. Yes, we do sometimes want to put on a show. Maybe a baguette theater is in our future. What's your favorite kind of bread to eat? A nice country sourdough. There's such depth between the crisp, dark crust, the soft, fluffy interior, and the flavor developed by long fermentation and a healthy starter. SIPPING STUMPTOWN Sometimes it comes down to fate. Take Little Goat's relationship with Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Says owner Stephanie Izard, "We were about to go with another coffee company. Then I walked out of my office, and the guys from Stumptown were there—and I still don't understand why they were in the restaurant." Izard realized she had met kindred spirits in the crew from Portland, Oregon, who (like Izard) work closely with farmers to source the best possible product. Our favorite libation? The addictive Little Goat: rich steamed goat's milk blended with espresso and topped with a swirl of goat's milk caramel, a dollop of chilled and sweetened Thai whipped cream, and a shake of masala spice cut with powdered sugar. PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATHAN KIRKMAN continued from page 70 battle the throngs for weekend brunch) for a stack of traditional sourdough pancakes or the not-so-traditional Kimchee & Bacon & Eggs & Pancakes Asian Style Breakfast Tasty Thing (don't ask, just order it); at midday to nosh on a Slagel Family Farm all-American beef burger (a classic patty piled with all the toppings and Little Goat's special sauce); or at dinner for the succulent Sloppy Goat (like Mom's specialty but better, served on a buttery brioche and topped with tangy slaw), the Boo Boo Baise (a rich and hearty seafood stew), or even all-day breakfast—you're going to eat. And you won't mind that you waited. Running Little Goat is no small undertaking. Izard employs more than 175 people with waitresses in country kitchen-like purple shirtdresses, hipster servers with tats and facial hair, a team of managers making sure everything runs like clockwork, and around 75 cooks who man the line from early morning to late night. Ask anyone and they'll say that Izard is the one working the hardest while at the same time supporting her team and creating a positive vibe in the kitchen. "She could jump into any station and do a better job than you," admits Sean Spradlin, executive sous chef at Wicker Park's Carriage House, who cooked alongside Izard at Girl & the Goat. "She can help you without screaming or yelling at you. It's nice to have that kind of chef personality in the kitchen." That cheerful-yet-competitive attitude seems to pervade everything Izard does, and it's likely a factor in her success. Whether it's working the line at either restaurant, lending a hand at events for charities like Common Threads and Share Our Strength, or making a return appearance on Top Chef, everything Izard touches seems to turn to gold. "She's so charismatic, and that carries over into everything she does," says Joe Flamm, a former Girl & the Goat sous chef who now holds that position down Randolph Street with Bill Kim at BellyQ. "The people around her have that energy. Her restaurants have that energy. I can't explain how or why that works, but it's unbelievable and undeniable. That carries into the food and makes you like her. She kills it." MA LEFT: MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 070-072_MA_Flavor_FlavorOfTheMonth_MayJune13.indd 72 4/16/13 10:38 AM