Long a staple in ethnic cuisines, goat meat recently has gone mainstream, popping up with increasing frequency in restaurants throughout the country. Among them: Sacramento’s very own Grange Restaurant & Bar, where chef Michael Tuohy has featured it on the menu several times. (His menu changes daily.) Tuohy says he was prompted to give goat a try when it became available from Bill Niman’s BN Ranch in Bolinas, known for its “natural” meats and ethical standards. But he wasn’t quite sure how to market it. “First of all, what do we call it?” Tuohy pondered. “Do we just call it ‘goat’ on the menu? Will people go for it?” To his great surprise, Sacramento diners jumped all over it. “The first time we put it on the menu, we sold out in two hours,” reports Tuohy. The meat was served three ways: braised shoulder, roasted leg and sous vide loin. So what does goat taste like? “I found it to be very lamblike,” says Tuohy. “It wasn’t gamy at all.” Lately, goat has been unavailable from BN Ranch, but Tuohy plans to put it back on Grange’s menu as soon as he can acquire more. Meanwhile, you can find goat at a number of local ethnic restaurants, including Shaz, a Pakistani/Indian restaurant on Airport Drive (where goat curry is the house specialty), and Birrieria Bugambilias, a Mexican restaurant on Franklin Boulevard.
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