Ladies First, Remember

The air was still quite humid at 7:45 PM when we departed for dinner at The Girl in the Goat.  So far today we received extremely positive feedback whenever we mentioned this reservation, so my excitement for dinner increased throughout the day.  When we first arrived at the restaurant we had about half an hour until our reservation so we waited outside in the humid heat for our guests, Callie Brown, Mario Gage, and his two friends to arrive.  This was only our second informational dinner and after the one we had with the Washington University admission officers and students, I could not wait to get settled into another intellectually stimulating discussion.  

I was surprised to see that the dress wear for the restaurant was fairly casual.  I felt that we stood out as a nicely dressed group compared to the table full of people dressed in jeans and a shirt outside.  Inside however there were a few with more formal attire, so I didn't feel that over dressed as I previously had.  Besides, regardless of the dress code, I think we should wear formal outifits to all of the dinners we have with admission officers or current students.  Our four guests were all dressed very nicely as well, and we quickly made our introductions before stepping through the revolving restaurant door.  While we had already met Callie Brown today at the information session, we each introduced ourselves to current University of Chicago student's Mario, Belle, and Ian.  As rising Juniors they were able to tell us more about the earlier experiences of college and I listened with great interest to these fascinating people.  

As for the food, each of us ordered one dish that would be made a double order and set at each end of our long, wood table.  This system worked out very nicely and we all had the chance to try small portions of everyone's desired dish.  At first I felt like I was not going to get enough food, but soon I realized that all of those small bites of each plate were indeed quite filling.  I must say that satisfying better describes how I felt after eating.  Throughout the night I was able to try bits of quail, escargot, green beans, beef tongue, lamb, vegetables, scallops, and even pig face.  Yes, the daunting pig face was recommended to us as the best dish of the house, so one of our brave guests, Callie, placed in the order.  This plate had all of us quite curious, but I myself felt ready to take on the new adventure.  By the time we received this dish, many of us had already formed a mental image of the actual face of a pig placed in front of us, so we were greatly surprised to find that the plate was delicately designed to comfort any worries the customer might have.  With an egg that covered almost hamburger-style patties, the dish was quite approachable and delicious.  Thank you Callie for making that adventurous decision for the rest of us, for it turned out positively eye-opening.

Scallops

One Piece of the Quail

My Delicious Shirley Temple

Green Beans

Pork Ribs

 

Broccoli Dish

In general I had a wonderful time at dinner and had many great laughs, mainly with students Bella and Mario.  The atmosphere was inviting, but it was a bit loud and that prevented me from being able to talk to the other guests at the opposite end of the table.  Even so, I made interesting conversation with those who were on my end, which was definitely worth it for me.