After over two decades serving the Dundas West crowd an ever-changing menu of brunch specials, Saving Grace owner Monica Miller is closing up shop.
The last day to sample Saving Grace’s eclectic fare is February 15 — 25 years to the day since Miller first opened the restaurant at 907 Dundas St. W.
Back then, Dundas West was a completely different street, Miller told TorontoToday from inside her sunlit kitchen.
“When I came to this neighbourhood, I was the only restaurant,” Miller said. “Except for a place that taxi drivers used to go to.”
Since then, Miller has seen the street blossom into a dining destination. In the little strip of Dundas West between Trinity Bellwoods Park and Bathurst Street, great restaurants are a dime a dozen — like the Michelin-recognized Bar Vendetta, Chinese-Jamaican fusion joint Patois, and the Instagram-famous La Palma.
Dundas West’s trendy makeover has certainly brought more diners to the street, but the competition with other restaurants, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic and rising inflation, have been difficult to weather for Miller.
“The neighbourhood’s really changed,” she said. “This past year was the worst year [for business] since I opened in 2000.”
Miller can’t afford to hire extra staff so she’s in the kitchen everyday to keep the food flowing. It’s a tough job, and Miller is ready for a break.
“I'm tired,” she said. “I don’t have any energy left.”
A creative outlet
Miller’s not sure what’s next for her, but she said she “definitely” wants to do some travelling, which she hasn’t been able to do since the pandemic.
Travelling is a source of inspiration for her cooking, Miller said, with memories of her adventures often landing on her diners’ plates.
“I took a travel safari in Rajasthan in the Thar Desert and my safari guide made me these eggs, which I later found out are ubiquitous all over India as a street food,” Miller said. “So I brought that idea back to Saving Grace.”
Miller’s Eggs Rajasthani — scrambled eggs with chickpea masala and spiced tomatoes — have been a staple on the Saving Grace menu since the early 2000’s.
Apart from her dedicated customers, the thing Miller will miss the most about Saving Grace is the creative outlet it gave her. She went to art school and trained as a jeweller, but one aspect of cooking she loves is its “ephemeral” nature.
When she makes a dish, “it doesn’t last very long,” she said. The same goes for her menu, which changes — sometimes every day — depending on what Miller wants to make.
Miller said she goes grocery shopping everyday after work, and finds Kensington Market and Chinatown particularly inspiring for new dishes, as well as the cuisines of India and Mexico.
She also keeps a milk crate full of binders of her favourite recipes to refer back to.
“I used to read cookbooks the way other people read novels,” she said.
One binder is completely dedicated to salsas and chutneys, another for eggs, another for pancakes, and another for salads, Miller explained as she pulled out binder after binder.
Some recipes are handwritten while others are directly pulled from magazine pages, accompanied by photos of colourful, artfully-arranged dishes.
“A good picture goes a long way for me when I’m thinking about what I want to make,” Miller said. “I don’t even have to have the recipe, just give me the photos.”
A lasting legacy
One Dundas West local who’s particularly sad to see Saving Grace go is Jen Hedley, owner of Ella’s Uncle, a cafe directly across the street from the brunch restaurant.
Ella’s Uncle is almost as old as Saving Grace, with 19 years on Dundas Street under its belt. As a testament to Saving Grace’s influence on the neighbourhood, Hadley told TorontoToday she picked the location for her cafe while eating at Miller’s restaurant in the early 2000s.
“Twenty years ago, I lived on Claremont Street and there was nothing around here,” Hedley said. She knew she wanted to open a coffee shop but was having trouble finding a location that would rent to her.
“I was sitting with a girlfriend of mine at Saving Grace and we were just talking,” Hedley said. “Another location had just fallen through and we looked up across the street and saw this boarded up spot.”
There was no for lease sign but Hedley said she knew that was the location for her from the moment she saw it. She tracked down the landlord’s phone number and the rest was history.
Over the years, Hedley has continued to look up to Miller as a shining example of a small business owner.
“She's been the best neighbour, I love her,” the cafe owner said. “She’s such a badass on the strip. Everybody respects her and she has always marched to the beat of her own drum.”
Her ‘saving grace’
While it’s now time to say goodbye to Saving Grace, Miller remembers fondly how opening the restaurant reshaped her life.
Miller used to work in a hotel and said she “hated the job so much I was gonna kill somebody.”
In that way, opening the restaurant was “literally my saving grace,” she said.
“Plus my middle name is Grace,” she added. “And Grace Street is just right there … so the name worked on so many levels.”
Coincidentally, Hedley also described her relationship with the long-standing businesses on Dundas West as her “saving grace.”
“I'm sad to see her go but I'm happy for her,” Hedley added, “because it's her choice, and she is happy about it.”
While it’s nice to see people mourn long-standing small businesses when they shut down, Hedley said she can’t help but feel frustrated too.
“It’s nice to see these familiar faces,” Hedley said, shouting out the Archive wine bar and the Armed jewellery store, both of which have been on the street for over a decade.
“But as I walk down, I see more vacant signs.”
For instance, the old Dundas St. Supermarket has stood empty since it closed in 2023, after 30 years of operation.
“When people get so surprised that something shuts down, I can’t help but think, ‘Well, you stopped coming,’” she said.
“It’s a tough time for everyone, and the No Frills is probably cheaper than going to the corner store bodega,” Hedley acknowledged. “But this is what happens when you stop going to these small businesses.”
But for Miller, she’s closing on her own terms, strengthened by the knowledge that she was able to make a living and an impact as an artist. In an Instagram post announcing Saving Grace’s final day, Miller wrote: “I am overjoyed to be closing. Please don’t be sad.”
For those who want to own a bit of Saving Grace history, the restaurant will be holding a month-long yard sale until March.
