It’s no secret that we are huge fans of pretty much everything Chicago Chef Stephanie Izard does. We’ve have been to all of her restaurants, and Little Goat Bread was a regular Saturday morning stop for us when we lived in Chicago. When we were planning our Chicago trip, Izard’s newest restaurant, Duck Duck Goat, was at the top of our to-do list.
We didn’t have as much time as we would have liked (we had a meeting to get to, and reservations at Duck Duck Goat, like all of Izard’s restaurants, are notoriously hard to come by), so we grabbed a spot at the bar and ordered a few cocktails and snacks. Then we proceeded to take turns exploring the fabulous decor in the various rooms around the restaurant. The interior design is a fun and whimsical mash-up of scenes inspired by Chinatowns across the country. The room with red floral wallpaper and an umbrella chandelier was one of our favorites, and we loved the red and white string lights.
Our cocktails were great. To be honest, we don’t remember what they were and forgot to snap an iPhone picture of the list, but we remember them having really fun names and being super delicious. Nothing too heavy.
Before opening Duck Duck Goat, Stephanie Izard taught herself Chinese cuisine, and we love that she describes the menu as “reasonably authentic Chinese food.” We actually really appreciated this attitude. The restaurant is not trying to serve perfect replications of dishes from China, but from talking with Izard, it was obvious that she has extremely high standards for the execution of what they are doing. Our crab rangoon was perfect, and far superior to any takeout we’ve ever had.
The West Loop and Fulton Market area has been rapidly growing with more and more great culinary spots opening every year. It’s not slowing down anytime soon, so we recommend taking whatever reservation you can get and heading over to Duck Duck Goat ASAP! Also, be sure to get Chef Izard’s cookbooks Gather & Graze and Girl in the Kitchen.
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