Is Stephanie Izard’s Chicago restaurant Girl and the Goat the hardest reservation in town these days? I don’t know but I do know I have had three separate conversations in recent weeks about strategies for getting in, and that is telling, no? (And don’t think I’m going to tell you the strategies because I think at least one of them works and, although I love you all deeply, you’re so not getting my table).

Although there is a fair amount of goat on the menu at Girl and the Animal of the Same Name, there is none, yes none, in the cookbook. Which is probably why they didn’t call it The Girl and the Goat Cookbook (imagine the dozens of books returned by disappointed customers).

Instead, what the first woman to win Top Chef offers is (in her own words) “a collection of recipes built on a few classic techniques” influenced, of course, by her unique point of view about food. But here’s what really interests me: she says in her forward “I promise you that even though a couple of recipes might be aimed more at a special dinner party than a Tuesday night supper, all are simple enough to do at home and are made with ingredients readily available from your local grocery store.” Color me skeptical but — game on Goat Girl!