Girl and The Goat

Address: 809 W Randolph St, Chicago IL, 60607 

http://www.girlandthegoat.com

Phone:  (312) 492-6262

I cannot talk about Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard's 6 month old Girl and The Goat restaurant without mentioning how amazing her Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face dish is. If you have tried Head Cheese (a type of European cold cut/meat jelly made from the head of a cow or pig) and really liked it, I can guarantee that you'll be blown away by her Pig Face dish.  Pig face is essentially her take on the traditional head cheese, instead of serving it as cold cut, she braise and roast it in a wood oven. The end product is an absolutely sublime, crispy/juicy/gelatiny meat jelly served with sunny side egg, tamarind and cilantro sauce. It's delicious, different and gutsy. I love this dish.

Other dishes on the menu are equally interesting and exciting, we especially enjoyed the Hiramasa crudo, sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette as well as the doughnut dessert.  Our only regret was that we weren't able to try more dishes since we had a pretty heavy lunch at The Publican a few hours earlier.

Girl and The Goat is one of the most popular restaurants in Chicago right now and I can see why. It is essentially a gastropub with really awesome food, something like Breslin in New York. Everything about the restaurant reflects Chef Izard's fun loving personality, her techniques and creativity. So I'm actually surprised that Michelin Guide Chicago didn't give the restaurant a One Star. It definitely deserves more than just a Michelin Bib Gourmand nod, if you asked me. But keep up the good work Chef Izard, I'm a big fan of yours now! And your restaurant is a must try in Chicago! 

Wood oven roasted pig face with sunny side egg, tamarind, cilantro and potato stix

Open Kitchen and part of the dining room

warm oysters dish

Hiramasa crudo with crisp pork belly and aji aioli

Sauteed green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews

doughnut dessert

Minetta Tavern

Address: 113 MacDougal St., New York (Between Bleecker and West 3rd Street)

http://www.minettatavernny.com

Phone: 212-475-3850

I doubt Keith McNally of Minetta Tavern really care that his restaurants were not awarded Three Stars Michelin or were not placed on the Top 50 San Pelligrino's World Best Restaurant list. His restaurants (yes - Odeon, Balthazaar, Pastis, Minetta Tavern, Pulino's etc) are extremely successful and most of the time, difficult to get reservation.

I still remember when Minetta Tavern first reopened in 2009, getting a table for two was almost impossible. Not only was the phone line eternally busy, you practically need to be a celebrity to eat there. Thankfully, the hype and craziness had died down somewhat one year later, and we the commoners are finally getting our chance to dine at this McNally revived institution. A legendary speakeasy and restaurant which started in the 1930s, Minetta Tavern had deteriorate over the years and lost its charm, when McNally bought it over one year ago and revamped it back to its glory days.

Although I did not particularly like the food at Balthazaar and Pastis, I have to admit that McNally is a genius restaurateur who truly understands his clients and what works in this city, building his own successful trademark restaurants. You know when you are in a McNally restaurant: old school and it's so bloody popular (with pretty people).

Since it was only the two of us, we decided to order Côte de Boeuf (for two), rather than their famous black label burger. Minetta's dry aged Côte de Boeuf was truly the best steak we have ever eaten in the city. Move over Peter Luger, I don't think I will be seeing you much after this!  We also had an order of Pasta Za Za, another of the restaurant's famous fettuccine with pancetta dish, supposedly named after legendary sexy siren Zsa Zsa Gabor. This simple runny egg, pancetta and al dante fettucine dish is so satisfying!

 Pasta Za Za

fresh pasta with pancetta, sage, Parmesan, and a fried egg

 

 Dry Aged Côte de Boeuf for two, with roasted marrow bones and sucrine lettuce salad

Trattoria Gianni Franzi

Address: Piazza Marconi 5, 19018 Vernazza, Italy

http://www.giannifranzi.it

Phone: 0187-821003

A lot of people chose to park their cars at La Spieza and take the train to the villages but we thought we would just drive to Vernazza, which is located 4 villages away from La Spieza. It turned out to be one of the scariest driving experience; the road was narrow and winding, and we had many heart-stopping moments driving our stick shift rented car especially when facing speeding cars (drivers love to speed in Italy, even on narrow-one-lane mountain roads). Once we arrived at Vernazza, we were dead tired and all we wanted is food. Since our hotel Gianni franzi is also a popular restaurant in the village, we just went there and not expecting much; but the food there turned out to be really good! From their classic spaghetti polmodoro, to Fritto misto to beef ragu, all the dishes were cooked perfect and very flavorful. House wine was delicious too. Needless to say we went back again on our second night!

Frito Misto

Ravioli Pesce (two thumbs up!)

Pomodoro 

 
Spaghetti Vongole

 
Trofie al Pesto - a Lingurian specialty

Il Refolo

Address: 1459 Santa Croce, Campo San Giacomo dall'Orio, Venice, Italy

Phone: 39-041-524-0016

 

Il Refolo is the sister restaurant of one michelin star restaurant Da Fiore, one of the most exclusive and successful restaurants in Venice by famous chef Mara Martin. While chef Mara runs the kitchen in Da Fiore, his son Damiano takes care of il Refolo near Santa Croce. Il Refolo markets itself as an upscale pizzeria and cicheteria rather than a restaurant, and its location by the canal, surrounded by old Venetian buildings, a bridge and a church, gives a whole new definition to outdoor seating with a view. It is as Venice as it can be.

The food is equally impressive. Their specialty fig and prosciutto pizza was truly amazing, a perfect pie with sweet and savory element combined to create one of the best pizza I've had. The pasta and salume were delicious as well. The excellent house wine also got my "wine shy" friends into drinking wine throughout the trip! Venice is famous for its seafood, but I assure you, you will not be disappointed by Il Refolo's non seafood menu!!

Salume

Prosciutto and fig pizza, classic Magherita pizza

                                                       Il Refolo Pasta dish

Da Romano

Address: Via Galuppi, 221, 30012 Burano, Venice

Phone: 041-73-00-30

What is risotto? What makes a good risotto? I'm not familiar with risotto growing up but the main component that makes up risotto, rice, I am very familiar with. Rice is a common starch component in any person's diet growing up in Asia. We have rice for almost every single meal. It's not uncommon to see rice accompanying breakfast. However, as much as rice is a blank canvas as potato is to most western cuisine, they are usually cooked bland in Asian cuisine. We usually start a plate with plain boiled rice and then drench it with main entrees which are usually sauce based or are soupy. When I first had risotto, it was as foreign as it is familiar. But it all makes sense eventually. Why not make it rich and creamy? Why not infuse it with meat or fish or vegetable based broth? Why not make it as flavorful as you can and serve it as is?

When I first saw Da Romano on No Reservation, I knew I had to go there one day. I'm constantly searching for the best Risotto and the Risotto which Anthony Bourdain ate at Da Romano was one of the most appetizing Risotto I've seen. But what is Goh Risotto? Well, apparently Goh Risotto is risotto made from Goh Fish, which is a type of fish that lives in the mud of Venetian lagoon. Da Romano has been making and serving this dish for over a 100 years! But to get to the restaurant, which is in Burano (lace) island, takes about 45 mins ferry ride from Venice. Sounds like a long ride just for food? I promise you it's worth every min of the nauseating ferry ride.

The restaurant is located on the main street, just ask around once you get to the island and you'll find it in no time. Our waiter was very friendly, we told him we came here to try the restaurant's famous Goh risotto after watching it on no reservation. He turned around and announced to the owner of the restaurant (who also appeared in the episode dining with Tony) that it was Anthony Bourdain that brought us here! (I think)

 

We were invited to visit the kitchen when the chef was preparing our Goh risotto. Even though I have seen it on television, it was still pretty fascinating to see it in person. Watching the chef flip the risotto up in the air with just wooden laddle and the pot was like watching a circus act in a carnival. All of that didn't matter if the end product is not impressive, but the Goh Risotto, just like how it looked on television, was really one of its kind. Maybe it was the intense flipping action which release the starch in the rice in a certain way that blends perfectly with the intense flavor of the "poor man"'s Goh fish broth. Or it could be the bountiful of butter. I can still vividly remember the taste. We also ordered the squid ink risotto (surprisingly is tomato based and has a different flavor profile), Spaghetti ala vongole, Mix seafood crudo with sardine, baby squid, baby octopus, sea snail, langoustines/shrimp, and they were all amazing. The star of the meal was definitely the Goh risotto and it has taken the trophy as the best risotto I've ever had. It was one of the most memorable dish we've all had during this Italy trip. If you're ever in Venice, do take that nauseating ferry ride to Burano for this risotto. It's worth it, and the island itself is really charming, peppered with bright colorful buildings and other photo opportunity. It's as close to an Italian vacation as you'll be able to seek.

We witnessed the famous "risotto flipping" action when visiting Da Romano kitchen. Thank you for letting us into your kitchen!

Our charming and friendly waiter

Mixed seafood crudo

Goh Risotto 

Squid ink risotto 

spaghetti ala vongole