The culinary powerhouse Chef Stephanie Izard opened her first restaurant in Chicago when she was 27 years old. “It was a 60-seat Mediterranean seafood restaurant called Scylla,” she recently told Whitewall. “ I was the owner, chef, and manager. Wearing all the hats made me so thankful to my partners at Boka Restaurant Group—because when we opened Girl & the Goat together, I appreciated all of the work and effort that goes into every single aspect of a restaurant.”
Izard’s early days of balancing roles and ingredients set the stage for a full-fledged career in the industry—in the kitchen and in front of the camera. She was the first female winner of Top Chef in 2008, gaining recognition for her bold flavors, creative dishes, and vivacious personality. Quickly, she became a household name, captivating foodies around the world with her cuisine and charm.
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
In 2011, she opened Girl & the Goat in Chicago, and won a James Beard Award in the “Best Chefs in America” category. It propelled another iteration in Los Angeles ten years later, as well as more restaurants in both cities, including Duck Duck Goat and Cabra. Inside, the ambiances are always warm, and menus tug on cultural influences from around the globe. Each menu, for instance, is inspired by another culture’s cuisine, drawing in flavors, sights, and smells from China to Peru.
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
Izard’s retail line, named This Little Goat and founded in 2017, was created to assist home cooks in their culinary journey, focusing on simplicity, flavor, and fun. Since, it has featured an array of globally-inspired items, from chili crunches to her books Girl in the Kitchen and Gather & Graze.
Now with one James Beard Awards to her name, and an Iron Chef title, too, Izard remains an indelible figure in the culinary world. Ahead of launching her latest project, Valley Goat, in Silicon Valley this spring, Izard shared with Whitewall details about her approach to cuisine and how her love of cooking first began.
Chef Stephanie Izard’s Start
Chef Stephanie Izard, photo by Galdones Photography.
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
WHITEWALL: Can you tell us a bit about your personal/professional journey leading up to working in the kitchen?
STEPHANIE IZARD: I always loved to cook with my mom. I was fortunate to drop up in a family where the kitchen was the epicenter of the house and dinner was where we came together. My mom would create a menu for the week and post it on the refrigerator each Sunday and my friends would decide when they were going to come over for dinner. I never planned on cooking professionally until after I graduated from University of Michigan. My dad suggested I try culinary school because I loved cooking so much and when I walked in to the Arizona Culinary Institute that first day I realized it was what I was meant to do.
“When I walked in to the Arizona Culinary Institute that first day I realized it was what I was meant to do,”
—Stephanie Izard
WW: In 2008, during Top Chef‘s fourth season, you first garnered fame after being the first woman to win. How did that impact the early stages of your career?
SI: I was so grateful to have won Top Chef, but when I opened Girl & the Goat afterward, I tried to downplay the impact that the show had on my career. Now, as I look back, I realize and appreciate all of the doors that it opened for me—and continues to open for me! We still often have guests visit the restaurants because they’re early fans of Top Chef. It presented so many opportunities for me and gave me a national platform.
Expanding in Chicago and Los Angeles
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
WW: Since then, you’ve opened other spaces—and currently operate three in Chicago alone. Most menus are inspired by other cultures, like Duck Duck Goat’s Chinese-inspired dishes and Cabra’s Peruvian-inspired plates. Why? Why these cultures?
SI: Duck Duck Goat, for instance, began as a pop-up dinner that I hosted at Little Goat Diner. I took home a lot of leftovers and was eating them on the couch later that night, thinking, “This is SO good. I should open a space with this food.” My mom loved to try out Chinese recipes, so I grew up eating Chinese-American food, but wanted to learn more about the cuisine. So, my team and I took a trip and ate our way through mainland China and Taiwan. We were absolutely blown away. The food at Duck Duck Goat is inspired by Chinese-American restaurants, as well as some of the amazing dishes we had on our trip.
Chef Stephanie Izard’s Ethos
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
WW: Tell us about launching your iconic space in Chicago, Girl & The Goat, in 2011—a James Beard Award nominee for “Best New Restaurant.” It now has a great sister location in Los Angeles. What was its intention back then that is still embedded in the restaurant’s ethos today?
SI: When we opened Girl & the Goat we first and foremost wanted to make it a great workplace for our team. If you have a happy team, that energy trickles down to enhance the guest experience. We have a number of people who have been there since day one (14 years ago) and you can feel the family atmosphere as soon as you walk in the door.
“You can feel the family atmosphere as soon as you walk in the door,”
—Stephanie Izard
Courtesy of Girl & The Goat, Los Angeles.
