by Julie Reitsma
We have a bit of a thing for compartmentalized food, so when we heard that every Thursday Grace Upstairs’ was hosting a TV dinner, we got excited at the fact that our hankering for Hungry Man was getting a culinary and ambient makeover. Delicious  comfort food served up with some retro Leave it to Beaver and Pinoit Noir makes for a perfect weeknight outing mid-winter. TV dinner value is definitely present at $20 for a full meal – except up the portions (on top of the fact that you wouldn’t want to zap a metal tray, there’s no way this beast would fit into any conventional microwave) and up the quality (this is Grace, after all).

To kick off this weekly happening, Grace went for some original flavourings – turkey with all the trimmings, No Name style. Don’t fret possums, the real deal served as the inspiration perhaps for layout, but definitely not for flavour – though we were fans of the homage to “how mashed potatoes should look” by way of a perfectly square dab of butter.  The bird, weighing in at 33 pounds (seriously – this thing was an oddity), took centre stage while rainbowlicious organic heirloom carrots and peas, velvety smooth mashed taters, melt-in-your-mouth mushroom studded bread stuffing, and cranberry sauce (thankfully non-gelatinous) happily nestled in the surrounding tray nooks. A ramekin of grandma-worthy apple crumble and an Algoma Winter Warmer ($12) – a mix of apple cider, spiced rum and Frangelico that will surround your soul with fuzzies and may need to be added (hindsightedly) to our comfort food hit list – rounded off a meal that made us forget that we’d temporarily sworn ourselves off the whole turkey dinner thing post-Christmas feasting.

We enjoy a touch of wit with our meal, and this new venture provides it in spades. With a different menu trayed up each week, the titillating possibilities are plentiful – Salisbury steak with a side of macaroni and  cheese? Memories of the Hungry Man? After all, Thursday is always just a few days away and while we’d like to just move on from all this recession business, we can still appreciate a little frugality – at least where price is concerned.

Grace Upstairs
503 College Street
www.gracerestaurant.ca