Stephanie Izard On Little Goat

Stephanie Izard made fans when she won her season of Top Chef, but she gained true devotees when she opened her Chicago restaurant Girl & the Goat in 2010. Izard now has a new project to get excited about — especially for those of us who often find a reservation at Girl & the Goat hard to come by!

Late last year she opened Little Goat, across the street from the original restaurant. Little Goat is a play on a diner, with a huge menu including burgers, milkshakes, and breakfast items. Beyond the diner, Little Goat also has a sandwich takeaway, a bakery, a coffee program for takeaway, and a bar. It's an ambitious project, and we recently caught up with Izard in Chicago, where she admitted she hadn't originally planned for such a large concept. "It started off where we just wanted to spread our wings, have our bakery somewhere else," she said. "We were going to have a teeny breakfast place with like five tables, but that didn't really happen! Instead we opened the supersized Goat. It's a 1200seat diner, 90-item menu, like a true diner on the East Coast."

But despite the expanding concept, she hasn't been overwhelmed by the growth and instead is enjoying how much they can do for their customers. " I love the idea of having one place and a number of different things — there's something for everyone," she said. "You know, someone comes in the diner and is like 'Oh, there's a coffee shop?'"

For more from Izard, including her favorite menu items, watch the video above or head to Little Goat and check it out for yourself!