ARTS & CULTURE
16 Obiter Dicta
Jurisfoodence: In Search of Toronto’s Best Brunch
Food Adventure #4 – Saving Grace
kate henley › staff writer
Saving Grace
907 Dundas St. West
A
t h i ng or person’s “saving grace” is its
redeeming quality, that feature which com pensates for its flaws and imperfections. As I
set off for my brunch adventure this week,
I hoped and prayed that Saving Grace would be my
saving grace from the lackluster brunch experiences
I have relayed to you thus far. In addition to the promise that its name imparted, I had heard rave reviews
about this brunch establishment and my expectations
were high. Alas, another brunch has resulted in shattered hopes and dreams. There was nothing particularly bad about Saving Grace, but I was left wondering
what all the fuss is about. Here’s why.
Brunch Hours
Saving Grace opens at 9:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on
weekends; the restaurant claims to close at 2:45 every
day, which seems oddly specific.
Wait Time/Service
Saving Grace is a tiny restaurant that only seats thirty
people. It does not take reservations, and on weekends it has a reputation for its long wait. Apparently,
a line forms outside the door well before it opens, and
it is so busy that the food takes upwards of an hour
to arrive once you have ordered. Despite the fact that
I wanted to give a true picture of the Saving Grace
experience, I was not willing to put myself through
that particular kind of hell. Instead, my brunch companion (BC) and I went at 10:30 on a Monday morning. At that time, the restaurant was about half-full,
though it had filled up by the time we left.
We got a table immediately and the service, on the
whole, was decent (though the server did take other
tables’ orders before ours, despite the fact that we had
arrived first). We only waited about five minutes for
coffee and another ten to fifteen minutes for our food
to arrive, so my expectations in this department were
surpassed.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere at Saving Grace is pretty relaxed,
and it has very simple décor (a kind of a shabby yet
modern feel). The large front windows make the space
feel bigger and very bright, regardless of the fact that
it was rainy outside while we were there. However,
the seating is not very comfortable, and the tables are
a bit cramped together: my chair was jostled a number
of times when the servers would attend to the table
next to us. The restaurant also got its delivery of fruit
while we were there, and I nearly had a box of papayas fall on my head (the delivery man caught it just in
time). Considering this near-death experience, I felt I
had to dock a point for the restaurant’s atmosphere.
While we were there, quiet trumpet music playing in the background; though pleasant, it was not
enough to alleviate the feeling that we were eavesdropping on our neighbours (and them on us) because
our tables were so close. Additionally, there is an
ê The french toast was the “saving grace” that made up for my near-death experience from a falling papya.
upper level of the restaurant where there are a few
seats that look out over the lower tables and in my
paranoid mind, I felt like I was being watched while
I ate.
beyond me (but maybe that says more about me than
the Toronto brunch scene).
Coffee
I am going to take this moment to point out what law
school has done to me (and probably many of you): my
eyesight is deteriorating at an obscenely rapid pace.
All those hours reading and staring at the computer,
and my eyes went from a +1.25 prescription to a +4 in
a year and a half (and they’ve since gotten worse). This
was highlighted by my visit to Saving Grace, where
the rotating portion of the menu is displayed on a
blackboard in the middle of the restaurant. I could not
read it. Rather than having these items announced to
me, I chose to go with something on the individual
menu I was given: French toast served with caramelized bananas and maple syrup, and a side of bacon. My
Though I was completely fine this week, my BC was
extremely hung-over after spending the previous
day going on winery tours in the Niagara region; as
such, he was not capable of conversation before coffee
arrived. Lucky for us, it was strong and was brought
to us (and refilled) fairly quickly.
LLBO licensed
No alcohol here, friends. How both Aunties and
Uncles and Saving Grace can be considered the best
brunch places in Toronto when they don’t give a
person the option to get day-drunk or stay drunk is
The Food
» see jurisfoodence, page 18