To name her spanking new College Street restaurant, Lesle Gibson did not look to the famous friends she made in Los Angeles (although “Timberlake’s” does have a nice ring to it). She looked instead to her grandmother, Grace, a 1926 U of T grad turned farmer’s wife. How appropriate, then, that the stylish (but not too stylish) space walks a fine line between hip and homespun. “I come from a long line of apple pickers and farmers,” explains Gibson, though in recent years her life has been anything but quaint. In 2002, she launched the brunch boîte extraordinaire Xacutti with then-partner Brad Moore, but left in 2005 when la-la land came calling. Three years and three L.A. hot spots—Bella, Shag and Parc—later, she’s back in her old space (Xacutti closed last November) with a plan to breathe new life into the tired strip of College between Grace and Bathurst. Among her secret weapons is celebrity-chef-in-the-making Dustin Gallagher, a Susur Lee protégé whose menu echoes Grace’s rustic-retro theme: barbecued short ribs, chicken pot pie and dandelion-ricotta ravioli. The same goes for the design concept, which includes distressed Douglas fir tables and creamy walls adorned with vintage photographs from Gibson’s own collection. “I want Grace to feel like a great dinner party every night,” she explains. No doubt Grandma would be proud.

Grace, 503 College St. (at Palmerston Ave.), 416-944-8884.

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