On his home court -- Morris Peterson

MORRIS PETERSON

Morris Peterson, the longest-serving Toronto Raptor, knows a thing or two about his adopted hometown — and about success. For the first time since 2002, his squad is heading to the playoffs. MoPete took time out to speak to Philip Alves about life downtown.

SCHOOLING THE NEW GUYS If they want to go shopping, I usually take [players new to the team] into the Yorkville area — to Holt Renfrew or Over the Rainbow. If they want to go eat, a lot of times I’ll take them to Morton’s. There’s a place called Pizza Rustica over by the SoHo Hotel. And also this place called Muse on King Street.

A RAPTOR’S APPETITE I usually eat breakfast at home, but if I was going to go for breakfast, I would go to Fran’s Restaurant. That’s on Victoria Street. If I was going for lunch, I would probably go to Pizza Rustica. For dinner, I would go to Morton’s. There’s also this new place called Kultura on King Street. They have a lot of good food there.

HE’S THE GREATEST DANCER Saturdays, I might go this club called Muzik over by Exhibition Place. That’s probably one of the nicest spots right now.

ROOM WITH A VIEW I live right by the water. I love the city life. I like my peace and quiet, but I like to look out my window and see the water. Also, being right downtown with the traffic and stuff. You know how traffic is in Toronto. It’s kind of heavy sometimes during the day.

SUITING UP OFF COURT One of my favourite places to shop now is TNT Blu in Hazelton Lanes. And Brown’s shoes.

EVERYDAY PEOPLE One thing that really sticks out in my mind that I love about Toronto are the people. When I first got to Toronto, I didn’t really know what to expect. But the people were so nice to me. Where I’m from [Flint, Mich.], people aren’t too nice. The people are just genuinely good people. I appreciate the little things. I love the night life. I love the city — just being around the city. There’s a lot of nice people in the city.

BEEP BEEP! I would’ve told you to go to my shop [Picture Perfect Motoring], but I ended up selling it. There’s a guy that washes cars at Loblaws [Queen’s Quay Market]. There’s a detailing shop at Loblaws. You can shop for your groceries and get your car washed. I either go there or, a lot of times, I go to the Four Seasons. They do detailing there, too. If I go to Yorkville, I drop my car off at the Four Seasons and I shop; when I come back, it’s clean.

National Post
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Page: TO3
Section: Toronto: The City
Byline: Philip Alves
Column: My Toronto