Goat Group Catering is James Beard Award Winning Chef Stephanie Izard’s full service catering experience.
Stephanie's first restaurant, Girl & the Goat, has always been a place for families to gather and share great food around a table. With this in mind, we wanted to bring the full Girl & the Goat experience to guests outside of the restaurant. We plan and produce a range of event styles that bring the flavors of Girl & the Goat, Little Goat Diner, Duck Duck Goat, and Cabra Cevicheria to homes and venues across the Chicagoland area.
Offering drop off and full service event catering, Goat Group Catering features the signature Stephanie Izard global influence along with the chef-driven identity that has made the Goat Restaurants Chicago favorites.
From corporate lunches and dinners, to social receptions, weddings and in home dinner parties, we can take you and your guests on a truly unique culinary adventure! We are your partner in every detail of custom events, and a visionary counterpart leading you through an extraordinary, hospitable experience.
Stephanie Izard, James Beard “Best Chef: Great Lakes” recipient 2013, and 2011 Food & Wine “Best New Chef,” is the Executive Chef/Partner of four Chicago restaurants, Girl & the Goat, Little Goat, Duck Duck Goat and Cabra along with the forthcoming Girl & the Goat LA. Izard was also awarded with the coveted title of “Iron Chef” after winning Season 1 of Food Network’s Iron Chef Gauntlet.
A 2011 James Beard “Best New Restaurant” nominee, Girl & the Goat has been praised by high-profile publications such as Saveur, New York Times, Food & Wine, Better Homes and Gardens and others. Little Goat, Stephanie’s highly successful follow-up to Girl & the Goat, encompasses a diner, coffee shop, bakery and bar. In March 2016, Stephanie opened her third restaurant, a Chinese concept called Duck Duck Goat in Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood. More recently, in March 2019, Stephanie showcases Peruvian-inspired cuisine at Cabra Cevicheria.
A South Side Chicago native, Patrick Macellaio has been around food and hospitality his entire life. From his early days growing up in an Italian-Irish household and kicking off his career in 2007 managing a family owned Irish pub, to beginning working at the Goat Restaurants in 2013, and helping to build and launch Goat Group Catering in 2015, Patrick’s experience in service and hospitality is vast and unmatched. Throughout his time with Goat Group Catering Patrick has built hundreds of strong, personal client relationships and executed thousands of events such as weddings, corporate functions, luxurious and intimate in home dinners, and even in restaurant events and dinners.
Patrick has been recognized on Michigan Avenue Magazine’s July 2019 “The List” as one of Chicago’s top influential and must-know personalities and is a part of the Victory Gardens Theatre’s honorary host committee. When Patrick is not working, he enjoys spending time exploring the culture and cuisine Chicago has to offer. Patrick’s favorite menu item at the Goat restaurants is Girl & the Goat’s seasonal summer halibut set, with a miso-marcona almond butter, blueberry nuoc mam, asparagus and pickled beech mushrooms.
Lejla Zeyadich, a Bosnian native raised in the United States, has deep roots in globally influenced food and culture. For 10 years, her career experience in the hospitality industry has been motivated by Chef partners and mentorships. She began her career with the Goats as a Maître D at Duck Duck Goat upon its opening in 2016. Since then, Lejla joined Goat Group Catering and worked to develop and evolve the drop off catering division into the full scale service it is today.
Lejla specializes in working closely with her clients to produce custom experiences and thrives on helping them bring creative visions to life, while also executing all the behind the scenes logistics, collaborating with chef teams, and executing hundreds of drop off orders. Throughout her time with Goat Group Catering, Lejla has worked with corporate client partners ranging from Nike, Capital One and Groupon, to local Chicago brands, and non-profits. Lejla’s favorite dishes at the Goat Restaurants are either the bucatini with beef and pork ragu at Girl & the Goat, or Duck Duck Goat’s wood-fired duck hearts with sesame horseradish aioli.
