Stephanie Izard Leans Into Zany Flavor Combos at New West Loop Bakery

Like other chefs across the country, Stephanie Izard is pivoting during the pandemic. The prolific restaurant owner (Girl & the Goat, Duck Duck Goat, Cabra) has opened a sweet shop inside Little Goat Diner along Randolph Restaurant Row. It’s called Sugargoat and features items like a pie inspired by Wendy’s Frosty and french fries.

Sugargoat opened Monday morning in West Loop and features the efforts of Izard’s longtime collaborator, pastry chef Faith Taheny. The bakery features cakes, cookies, and other treats. Other items include a pie inspired by Wendy’s frozen Frosty, and muffins, bagels, and scones. A news release shared sample items like an avocado toast cake and Cheez-It Cake with cheddar caramel, strawberry Nesquik buttercream, cheddar caramel buttercream, and peanut butter Cheez It crunch. Custom cakes are also available.

Izard spoke with the Tribune and said that Chicago could really use “some silliness and happiness and all that right now.” The flavor combos represent that attitude.

Sugargoat, inside the Little Goat Diner, 820 W. Randolph Street; (312) 667-0108; open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

And in other news...

— Set those alarms, as Goose Island Beer Co. has announced a series of outdoor events to celebrate its annual Black Friday release of its Bourbon County Brand Stout. Tickets go on sale at noon today (Monday, November 9) for tastings of the coveted beers at Goose’s Clybourn Brewhouse in Lincoln Park.

Those tickets cost $120 and include tasting of all seven beers coursed out over an hour. Customers will also get a chance to buy bottles to take home. There was a less-costly option, as Goose will also open up its Fulton Taproom on Black Friday where consumers can purchase draft beer flights and bottles for on-site consumption. The outdoor tastings require reservations via Resy and opened up over the weekend. They’re booked for Black Friday.

This is another way Goose Island, the esteemed local brewery that’s grown to national prominence, has shifted plans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under normal circumstances, beer fans would wait long lines on Black Friday to purchase Bourbon County, a high ABV beer that pours like motor oil and is imbued with a variety of flavors as it ages in a bourbon barrel. Last month, Goose announced it was using the United Center parking lot for curbside pickup for beer instead of hosting its annual Proprietor’s Day festival.

— Grubhub has announced a program to give independent restaurants $10,000 grants. The third-party delivery company — often maligned by restaurants who say Grub’s fees cut too much into profits — is working with the Greg Hill Foundation’s Restaurant Strong Fund. The collaboration is called the Restaurant Winterization Grant program. A news release reads “this financial support will help restaurants prepare for winter, including by helping restaurants address needs for additional infrastructure and equipment to extend outdoor dining, increased personal protective equipment (PPE) to protect their employees, and other necessities to get them through the cold-weather months.”