Dreams & Acomplishments
What began as a small china shop has grown into a destination for food lovers across Ottawa's west end.
Grace in the Kitchen, celebrating 23 years in Kanata, offers curated kitchenware, giftware, gourmet foods, and a selection of cheeses. The journey began in 2003 with a small shop called Grace Designs for Dining, inspired by a passerby's remark about its graceful layout. The store evolved from a china shop to include gourmet foods and kitchen tools, prompting a name change to Grace in the Kitchen. Food is central to the business, leading to the establishment of Serious Cheese, which originated with a few coolers and expanded into a dedicated cheese shop. A customer favorite, the House-Made Truffle Brie, was created through experimentation and remains popular today.
After eight successful years on Bank Street, Grace in the Kitchen faced a space challenge that prompted a search for a new location. In 2011, Grace in the Kitchen relocated to Kanata, allowing for an expanded product range, an larger Serious Cheese and a variety of kitchenware and gourmet items. The goal was to help customers discover new ingredients and products. Four years later, we partnered with Zwilling J.A. Henckels to create a Shop-in-Shop, coinciding with the availability of a neighboring space.
In 2016, we proudly opened the Zwilling J.A. Henckels Shop-in-Shop, further expanding the experience we could offer our customers.
Growing & Expanding
Honoured to have such loyal customers
The Hazeldean location allowed for significant growth, leading to a move to Kanata Centrum for more space. This expansion enabled a better shopping experience and a wider range of gourmet foods, specialty ingredients, and premium kitchenware. Despite changes since starting as a small china shop, the passion for food remains central to Grace in the Kitchen, inspiring creativity and joy among food lovers with its extensive offerings.
Over the years, Grace in the Kitchen has grown so much. What began as a small china shop has evolved into a destination featuring gourmet foods, Serious Cheese, a Zwilling Shop-in-Shop, and more than 60,000 skus.
More than two decades after opening our doors, we're still driven by the same excitement that inspired us from the beginning: helping people discover great food, create memorable meals, and find products they'll love for years to come.
Our Founder
Born and raised in Ottawa as the youngest of five, our founder, Bert, learned the beauty of hard work and dedication straight from his parents. His journey was always fueled by curiosity—whether he was making history as Bell Canada’s first male telephone operator, transforming a remote military base into a functioning hospital, or buying for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Along the way, Bert fell in love with commercial design and aesthetics, until life called for a daring new chapter. While reflecting under the Florida sun about what came next, Bert looked to his true personal passions. He realized he wanted to blend his decades of sourcing expertise with his deep love for curated, fine dining ware and vintage finds. That sparked the vision for what we are today: a gathering place for gourmet food, exquisite kitchenware, and the joy of a beautifully shared meal.