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| - This was one of my favourite meals I've had in a while. I've been wanting to go to Grace for a while because I was a huge fan of Dustin on Top Chef Canada and I finally got a chance when a friend from New York was in town for the weekend.
First, let's get a few negatives out of the way (which lost them a star).
1) We got there right on time for our reservation, but our table wasn't ready. There isn't much room to wait so the waitress mentioned we could go to the bar next door for a drink. We opted to wait for the rest of our party first and they arrived in a few minutes. When we told her we were going next door, as she suggested, she acted as if we would never return and made sure to remind is several times that our table would be ready soon.
2) They set up the 11-person table with 1 on the end, 6 on the booth, and 4 chairs. I suggested adding a fifth chair because the people along the booth were going to be crunched. She reluctantly agreed and brought over an uncomfortable wicker chair. When she wasn't looking we swapped it for a chair that matched the rest.
But despite that, I loved the place. Maybe the server was having a bad day, but the chef wasn't. The food was incredible.
My main was braised lamb maltagliati with confit shallots, roast endive and mustard sauce (yes, I have the menu open online). The pasta was perfectly cooked (tender, but not mushy), the lamb was perfectly cooked (rare and full of flavour), and the whole dish came together like a symphony in my mouth.
I also got to try a little of the duck confit, butter poached lobster, and beef wellington. All were excellent. Our side of the table couldn't stop raving about the food all night.
Finally, my date and I tried the sticky toffee pudding with pouring cream for dessert. It was delicious, not too sweet, and really fun to eat!
This is a restaurant I would definitely return to and a great place to bring someone from out of town to show off Toronto's subtle, but unique food scene.
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