Cabra Review

I had toured the entire Goat restaurant universe: Girl and the Goat, Little Goat, Duck Duck Goat, you name it. I, like many other Chicagoans and beyond, am a fan of Stephanie Izard’s inventive and welcoming approach to food. Clearly, this approach is working: she is the winner of the James Beard “Best Chef: Great Lakes” recipient and was the first female to win Bravo’s Top Chef. The accolades are what first sent me into her restaurants, but there still remained one for me to try: Cabra.

Cabra, Izard’s Peruvian restaurant located on top of the Hoxton Hotel that opened in spring of 2019, gives diners and drinkers beautiful views of the Chicago skyline as they sip on their “Takes Two to Mango” cocktail, complete with rum, mango, aji amarillo, lime, and tajin. Cabra’s menu is made up of tapas, or small plates, and you would be doing it wrong if you didn’t order family style. Blue tiles coat the bar walls and vines climb the trellises of the restaurant, creating an atmosphere that is a bit escapist, reminiscent of a South American summer, yet inviting at the same time. The darker mood-lighting and hushed tones, unlike Cabra’s DJ-dominated neighbor Cira, makes it the perfect place for a date night with a significant other or a celebratory night out with girlfriends. The large bar with colorful plants running down the sides splits the space in two, practically demanding that you order that extra “Warming up in Oaxaca” cocktail if you were on the fence.

So, one Thursday night after an anxiety-ridden day filled with a Sanderson Macroeconomics midterm, my roommate and I popped over to the Fulton River District for a taste of some of Izard’s fine dishes. We started off with the Mixto Calabaza, a seafood ceviche-like combo with crab, shrimp, and octopus. The consistency of the raw fish mixed with crunchy bursts of red quinoa immediately started a party in our mouths. The orange sauce covering the dish, with picked butternut squash and red onions sprinkled in, continued the party by infusing the plate with a bit of spice. Next emerged the Salmon Ceviche, bursting with pistachio flavors and garnished with cilantro. A creamy avocado sauce completed the dish, balancing out any overpowering spices that lingered. One must get ceviche if they go to Cabra; it’s what they’re known for, after all. These two dishes were my favorites of the night.

When I visited Girl and the Goat, I ordered the Goat Empanadas, with smoked blueberry and idiazabal cheese blending together to form a distinct flavor unlike anything I had ever tasted. Naturally, to continue on our culinary journey, we had to try out the Goat Empanadas and also the Swiss Chard and Kale Empanadas at Cabra to see how Chef Izard spun the dish around. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed. They were too doughy, and I was unable to truly gather the flavor and spice profile of the filling. These are two items on the menu to skip. The Chicken Thigh Anticucho was our next victim, two helpless skewers cooked to perfection, moist and easy to cut. In addition to the wonderful preparation of the meat, a peanut drizzle and cilantro topping added a sweetened flavor profile to the dish. As a side to the Anticucho, we dove into the choclo, corn topped with mounds of cotija cheese and butter. This was unlike any corn dish I have ever tasted — each kernel was so large and chewy, and, in tandem with the cotija, it distinctly reminded me of macaroni and cheese, Peruvian-style.

Goat Cheese Empanadas and Swiss Chard and Kale Empanadas

I would call myself someone who not just has a sweet tooth, but someone who has sweet teeth; I can’t leave a restaurant without taking a glance at the dessert menu. Our waiter stressed the necessity of the Picarones, so we caved. Ultimately, caving was the right choice: the Picarones turned out to be sugar-coated fried sweet potato donuts swimming in a caramel sauce. Even though Stan's Donuts is a Chicago classic, these picarones donuts topped the charts, with intense yet balanced sweetness flooding the senses upon each bite. There’s a reason why Stephanie Izard’s restaurants are so popular: there is always a delightful flavor profile to each dish. This also applies to Cabra, with an exceptional ambience and terrific dishes that are easy to share. So far no new Izard restaurants are on the horizon, so we'll just have to go back to the ones we know and love.