Grace Restaurant

I literally got off a plane in Toronto, dropped off my stuff and went to eat at Grace for Winterlicious ($35 dinner). It was a small, cozy restaurant near College & Bathurst in Little Italy.

 

They mentioned the automatic 18% gratuity at the bottom of the menu. 

Two types of bread and a nice brown sugar butter. 

Apparently refills of the bread were an additional $3. I really liked the butter, the bread was ok. 

(*Items I would recommend and/or order again)

 

Winter Greens with jarred pears, golden raisin dressing and spiced almond pulse

 

Sunchoke soup with parsnip fondu, sunchoke chips and chive
The soup was thick and salty with a distinct artichoke flavour and hint of almond. 

 

*Bison carpaccio with long pepper crust, apple and celery root slaw with truffle dressing

I thought it'd be great to try bison carpaccio and this was a beautifully presented carpaccio. It had a nice peppered outer crust and thin and delicate center. The oil was a little gratuitious and it was salty. I liked the contrast of the carpaccio to the crispy and delicious slaw. 

 

*Beef brisket with smashed mini reds, glazed carrots, kale and mushroom jus

The beef brisket was tender and tasty with a nice mushroom jus on top. I also enjoyed the kale salad with parmesan. However, the square block of potatoes (i.e. the smashed mini reds) were a strange addition to the plate for me and they were very salty.

 

Chocolate creameaux - dulce de leche, chocolate crumb, roasted marshmallow
Melty oozy marshmellow with a slightly burnt on top of a chocolate custard in a mason jar = s'mores without the graham crackers.

 

Cookies and ice cream - daily homemade selection

The ice cream was okay, but the cookie was dry with a peanut butter foam in the middle

 

*warm sticky date squares with lemon honey pastry cream and peanut brittle

Compared to the date cake I had in Thunder Bay, this one wasn't as good. I did like that it was warm and the date square was sticky in itself, but it just didn't stand out as much as the one I had earlier in the week.

Overall: The restaurant has a nice intimate feel to it and the food is nicely presented and carefully prepared. However, I wasn't particularly wow-ed by it.

Website: http://gracerestaurant.ca/