Girl & the Goat

This airy, bricklined restaurant in the Arts District is the L.A. spinoff of Top Chef winner Stephanie Izard’s popular Chicago restaurant. Globally inspired small plates may now be de rigeur in most major cities, but Izard’s take on the genre always satisifies, from the Girl & the Goat’s now-signature green beans with fish sauce vinaigrette and cashews to the confit goat belly, a sweet-and-savory dish so popular it’s available on both the brunch and dinner menus. No matter when you visit, Girl & the Goat bakes a sense of fun into its five-part small plates menu, which balances complexity with unfussy charm in the kind of laid-back, plant-covered warehouse setting that you’d expect from the neighborhood. Speaking of, a plate from each of the five menu sections (plus dessert) should be plenty for a pair of diners. The prices are pretty reasonable, too, for dinner in the Arts District, and while the cocktails leave something to be desired, the excellence cuisine and ambience more than make up for any mixological shortcomings.