A small Italian restaurant chain in Maryland is running some specials for Washington Capitals fans that are inspired by Alex Ovechkin.
Last week, a story published on The Players Tribune by Brooks Orpik brought to light a great tradition Ovechkin has. The Washington Capitals star eats food from Mamma Lucia before every home game. And he really goes all-out.
From Orpik’s story:
But also, seriously: The guy’s diet is borderline inspiring.
We have a chef here who prepares our pregame meals. Ovi always orders the same thing — Mama Luccia, which is this pasta dish that’s like chicken parm with noodles, bread, cheese, the kind of thing you want to take a five-hour nap after eating. He makes a big display of it too. There’s no shame. It’ll be eleven in the morning, way before anyone is really thinking about eating lunch, and Ovi will walk into the dining area yelling, “Mama Luccia! Mama Luccia!” I don’t know. It’s weird, but it seems normal now.
Then, a few hours later, he’s outskating everyone on the ice, knocking guys on their asses and sniping pucks wherever he wants.
Orpik got a few details wrong. First, the restaurant is spelled Mamma Lucia. Secondly, it’s not a dish prepared by the team chef, but rather food that’s ordered from the restaurant. The tradition goes back years to when Ovechkin was a rookie and the team would order food from the restaurant. Over the years the players have changed towards eating healthier food prepared by the team chef, but Ovechkin has stuck with Mamma Lucia.
“It’s a tradition from day one,” Ovechkin told ESPN about his meal. “They have the Italian food always when we came to the rink, and it’s very delicious.”
Since that story came out, Mamma Lucia has received tons of publicity and is trying to take advantage of all the people looking to eat the Ovechkin meal.
The restaurant is running a Capitals playoff special that includes the chicken parmesan dish that Ovechkin orders.
Headlines say “Alex Ovechkin eats a reckless pregame meal” & now you can, too, with our @Capitals playoff special!
Only from#MammaLucia#ALLCAPS #CapsBolts #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/Flb1Ldc5P1— Mamma Lucia (@mammaluciasofMD) May 17, 2018
Its the #ALLCAPS special
Chicken Parm with pasta, salad, & Mamma’s Bread PLUS a large cheese pizza all for $25
Eat like @ovi8 & the @Capitals with a pregame meal delivered from#Mammas #CapsBolts #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/KCyJcXQbyg— Mamma Lucia (@mammaluciasofMD) May 17, 2018
The whole story is awesome. Ovechkin’s diet is nothing like what you would expect from an elite athlete (unless you’re Tim Lincecum), yet he competes like a star after eating it. And now the restaurant is receiving tons of good publicity for it.
