Gwyneth Paltrow's pop-up shop, goop, is open in Highland Park Village, with some bougie linen napkins and other nicknacks filling in admirably for Paltrow herself. Picture a lifestyle store that's a bit like Martha Stewart's line of home furnishings that took over half of Kmart, only the quality and character is more in line with what you would expect in a shopping plaza that boasts Jimmy Choo, Billy Reid, Tom Ford and other luxury brands.
The temporary shop is tucked in the corner space across from Anthropologie, facing Oak Lawn Avenue, and will be open from November 17 through December 14 in the hopes you'll cross a few items off your Christmas list in true, goopy style. And it's got food.
I poked around for a bit, checking out a few table settings and some kitchen equipment before I stumbled into a room filled with women's underwear, felt uncomfortable and bolted for the door. Still, if you're looking for a gift, I'm pretty sure this is the sort of place you could pick up something few others will be giving. You'll be so original. You might even win Christmas.
But I was just there for a turkey burger. The goop people teamed up with Number One, a similar shop located just around the corner that also features super-expensive tchotchkes, including a huge selection of coffee table books. Number One is also a coffee shop with a modest kitchen, which is devoted to a handful of recipes from Gwyneth's cookbook for the duration of her pop-up. Think: avocado toasts, ice cream scoops of chicken salads with greens, roasted squash soup and smoothies.
If you buy Gwyneth's book, It's All Good, you'll want to file this recipe away for St. Patrick's Day, or maybe even Halloween. My burger arrived an unsettling shade of green because of the herbs that were blended with the meat before cooking. It's an odd shade of cadaver I wouldn't normally associate with delicious, but this burger is more palatable than it looks. There's a thick yogurt sauce studded with cucumber that stands in for mayonnaise and patty itself is especially moist. And because this is goop, it's served Instagram ready -- sliced in half and artfully arranged.
Based on the plates I saw leaving the kitchen, you won't leave Number One stuffed but you could leave satisfied. And considering all that plum pudding, fruit cake and turkey gravy that's in your future, that's probably a good thing.
