Stephanie Izard has won many awards and accolades as the executive chef-partner in Boka Group’s goat-themed restaurants. But it was her prior appearance on Season Four of Bravo’s Top Chef in 2008 that catapulted her culinary career and fame. Not only was she the first woman to win on the show, she took home the title of “Fan Favorite.”
It’s easy to see why. During last month’s Food Fanatics conference sponsored by US Foods in Las Vegas, Izard was everywhere—judging a culinary competition, sitting down for a fireside chat with NRN editor Alicia Kelso, doing a cooking demo in front of 4,000 operators and recording our Menu Talk podcast—all within just a few hours.
Stephanie Izard at her Food Fanatics cooking demo. | Photo courtesy of US Foods.
Izard makes time for it all, including overseeing Girl & the Goat restaurants in Chicago and LA, two Peruvian-style Cabra restaurants (which means goat in Spanish), the Asian-inspired Duck, Duck Goat, the casual Little Goat Diner, the newer casino spot, Lucky Goat, and licensed Valley Goat, both opened this year. Plans are in the works for Cabrito, a fast casual at the Orlando airport, as well as additional Lucky Goats and possibly more licensed restaurants.
Goat has obviously been central in Izard’s professional life, but it’s far from the only idea that contributed to her success. Here are some of the smart takeaways we gathered during that half day she spent at Food Fanatics 2025.
Menu items require ongoing R&D. “I was working on this yummy sauce the other day and I really wanted to put it on the menu,” Izard said. She and one of her chefs went through several iterations, tweaking the flavor, texture and applications, and finally launched it. “You can try it a thousand ways and drive yourself nuts, but it’s an ongoing learning process and you have to be able to adapt as you see better ways of doing something, then change,” she said. Sometimes. Her 9-year-old son Ernie is a taste tester and her toughest critic.
Marketing is table stakes. Izard shared that she comes from a family of marketers and marketing is in her DNA. Boka has a marketing staff, but she personally is involved in social listening on her own feeds. Plus, she doesn’t hesitate to do events to get more exposure, “but you have to make these impactful and talk about it,” she said.
Maintaining profitability is tough. Even though costs keep going up, restaurants can’t keep raising menu prices. Customers are already reacting by cutting back visits. Talk to purveyors to help you purchase smarter, Izard suggests. While she used to have 95 ingredients or products on one of the menus, she now has 25 and tries to use a sauce or other prep or ingredient in more than one menu item.
Stay ahead of the curve. Every day, Izard gets reports from suppliers on commodities like dairy and meat so she can help control spending ahead of time rather than waiting for the P&L to come in. She also tracks weather reports to help gauge how weather may affect traffic on a particular day or month. That data helps determine shift numbers and team schedules.
Stick with what you do best. At one time, Izard started selling branded products, “but I didn’t know the retail side as well and found it very challenging,” she said. She has since gotten out of retail and instead, posts recipes for consumers and fans to access online.
Make working in restaurants as fun as possible. Izard makes an effort to get to know her restaurant teams, recognize their strengths and promote from within. “A happy team trickles down to happy guests,” she believes.
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