It's Saturday morning and Grace on Braid is in full rock 'n' roll mode: joggers stopping in for a bit of liquid energy, young couples playing footsy beneath their eggs bennes and elderly patrons nostalgically checking out the collection of vintage crockery on the wall.
Upon entering, you know immediately that you have walked into the soul of a neighbourhood; it's the kind of place where most customers are known by name and where you feel comfortable taking your shoes off at the table. I feel like I come here all the time. Only I don't.
Nick orders the mushrooms on toast, big juicy slabs of button 'shrooms, completely swamped in a drunken deluge of port, cream, mustard and garlic, served on five-grain toast ($13.50). The mushrooms are perfectly cooked and not too rich, but the portion is quite small. It's lucky he got a side of eggs as well, or he might have started in on my plate.