Graces 5 is a restaurant startup with the mission of revolutionizing healthy eating. Boasting a juice bar and soy-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free kitchen, Graces 5 still has something for everyone. Find it hard to believe? It’s true. We checked their menu

This restaurant startup has definitely been a learning experience for owner Tim Sharpe whose main lesson as a first time entrepreneur has been to hire a good team and delegate. An average of one in four restaurants close or change owners within their first year, so Sharpe’s team will be essential in his success. “Hire a team you can trust,” he says. “Start small and surround yourself with key people.” Sharpe decided early on to pick people with the skill sets that he lacked to help him get the job done.

Graces 5 has been two years in the making for Sharpe, a two time cancer survivors and father to a 5-year-old daughter who just beat leukemia. To say he’s passionate about healthy eating might be an understatement.

While this will be Sharpe’s first restaurant, he’s all too familiar with nutritious eating, citing it as an integral part to his recovery from cancer—the second time. The first time Sharpe was diagnosed, he underwent chemo but continued eating processed low quality foods.

The second time around, decided to Sharpe look at how his lifestyle and eating habits were affecting his overall health and decided to do things differently. He looked at alternative therapies, worked with a naturopathic doctor and watched the quality of foods he ate. He began to live a life that supported his health.

Sharpe is committed to making Graces 5 a gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free restaurant where anyone can come eat good food, made with quality ingredients and not have to worry about food allergies, dietary restrictions or harmful chemicals. Graces 5 is about local organic ingredients, so much so they have their own urban garden complete with fruit trees and a variety of herbs.

Graces 5 will be a place where plant to plate could quite literally be a few feet. And for what they can’t harvest on site, Graces5 is working with local farmers to keep ingredients fresh and healthy.

You can learn more about Graces 5 and taste some of their delicious food at our Wine Wednesday event on September 14th from 5:30-7:00pm. Wine Wednesday is a monthly reoccurring event that features a thinkspace entrepreneur and local winery. Wine Wednesday is a free event open to the whole community! We would love to have you there. RSVP.