Olympic Gold Medalist Spotted at Hula Restaurant and Sauce Co.

(Newswire.net — August 1, 2016) Ocean City, NJ –This summer, Olympic Gold Medalist Nastia Liuken served Ocean City as Grand Marshal of the 62nd Annual Night in Venice boat parade. This year’s theme “Destination America” was especially relevant to Nastia- a Russian immigrant who moved with her parents to Texas when she was a toddler. Nastia felt it was important to reserve time in her schedule to meet with local aspiring gymnasts.

Natasia hosted a meet-and-greet, made a public appearance outside of Ocean City Music Pier, and had lunch with her crew at one of the boardwalk restaurants.

When it was brought to his attention that Nastia Liukin, one of America’s most celebrated gymnasts was standing in his restaurant, Chef Rihl was honored and overjoyed. The Hawaiian-style restaurant’s owner – known best as “Dave” – has been running The Hula Restaurant and Sauce Company for sixteen years, and he is deeply rooted in the Ocean City and mainland communities.

Dave’s daughter is passionate about gymnastics, and she practices almost every day at Bright Stars Gym Academy in Egg Harbor Township. Chef Dave explained that it wasn’t so much that he was star struck about hosting a celebrity for lunch at his restaurant. He was humbled and appreciative of the famous athlete’s time spent in Ocean City during this annual summer celebration, and that she went out of her way encourage local, young gymnasts. “We are counter service here. No waiters. But I couldn’t have her go get in line behind twenty beachgoers. I told her, ‘Stay at your table, and I will bring you everything you need.’ I wanted to wait on her personally, because I was just really honored that she came to eat at my restaurant.” Dave said, recalling the story.

Besides her widely televised career in gymnastics, Nastia Liukin is also recognized from her place on “Dancing with the Stars”, the launch of her fashion clothing line, and appearances on NBC broadcasts. Dave’s nine-year-old daughter and her gymnast friends were ecstatic when they heard that the five-time Olympic medalist was in town for a meet-and-greet at the Ocean City Music Pier. “I was impressed that she took time to talk to these little kids. She was the leader of the parade, but she wanted to do something to really encourage people while she was here.” The Night in Venice boat parade was a huge success. This annual festival draws a large crowd of costume-clad people for the boat parade, live music, face-painting and family fun. A fireworks display was included after the parade this year, and people filled the bandstands to get a good viewing spot. Participants decorated boats and bayfront houses to compete in the Night in Venice contest, in hopes of winning a prize. “Aloha Paradise” was the winning decoration in the small boats category. “Margaritaville” was the best decorated among the bigger boats. The 1st place Comic award went to “Hawaiian with Friends” “Aloha Honolulu” and “Destination Hawaii” – two tropically decorated houses along the waterfront – were added names to the list of winners. Though the theme “Destination America” could have been interpreted in at least fifty different ways, it’s clear that Hawaii was the favorite choice at Night in Venice this year. Nastia Liukin will be working as a gymnastics analyst at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro next month.