Toronto Raptors rookie Gradey Dick has only been in the city for a few months, but he already has a favourite restaurant — and his teammates were more than happy to join him there for a birthday dinner on Sunday.
The Raptors’ towering first-round draft pick has been hard to miss around the city lately, between his play on the court and his fun-loving attitude off of it. However, if you’re hoping to spot him at a restaurant there’s one place that should be at the top of your list: Pai.
The Thai restaurant off King West is a major hotspot for celebrities, and it seems to have won over the newest member of the Raptors as well
Video posted on Instagram Sunday shows Dick blowing out the candles on a cake at Pai while several Raptors, including Scottie Barnes, look on.
“Last night was a dream!” Pai Toronto wrote on Instagram, where they also posted photos and video from the event.
Both Barnes and Dick have praised Pai in recent interviews with Narcity. In fact, we asked Dick where he’ll celebrate his birthday last week and while he was quick to praise the diverse food scene in Toronto, he did name-dropped Pai in particular.
“The most fun I’ve had was when my parents came up with one of my brothers and we tried to hit some local spots, (such as) Pai,” he told Narcity ahead of his birthday, which is November 20. Dick first visited the restaurant in late October, and he says it made a great first impression with his parents.
“That’s been one of my favourites so far. And just getting to meet the owner (Jeff Regular) and his wife (Chef Nuit Regular), I think that was super special,” he said. “And not just for me, but just for my family, because my mom, she’s a big cook at home.”
Dick spoke to Narcity as part of a recent Gillette marketing campaign and — true to the campaign — he was freshly-shaven to celebrate his 20th birthday.
The NBA star told Narcity that he’s tried growing some facial hair “but people never see it because I’m blonde.”
However, he might experiment with it sometime in the future, once he’s got a few more birthdays at Pai under his belt.
“I’m still growing up,” he said. “We’ll see down the road.”
In the meantime, you can catch Gradey shooting threes for the Raptors all throughout the 2023-24 NBA season.
