Article Reprinted from the New York Post by HEATHER HADDON
Mona Muresan, 35, a Romanian beauty and owner of a popular Financial District steakhouse, is also catching fire on the female-bodybuilding circuit, winning seven state and national competitions since 2008.
The married Edgewater, NJ, resident is set to show off her phenomenal form in a crystal-laden, $900 string bikini during her first international competition, the Pittsburgh Pro, on May 7.
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The 5-foot-7, 135-pound stunner is running laps around her competitors in the “figure” category, where contestants are judged on their feminine beauty along with their ripped physiques.
“She’s a genetic freak. Most women would kill to be in her shape,” said Carlo Filippone, a champion bodybuilder from Fort Lee, NJ, who helped train Muresan.
Muresan owns Nebraska’s Steakhouse, a Stone Street spot known for its bodacious Eastern European bartenders and sexy holiday parties.
Wall Street regulars include honchos from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and AIG.
The determined dame started as the steakhouse’s coat-check girl after she immigrated with her family from Transylvania in 1992. She climbed her way up to bartender and scraped together the money to buy the place when the owner decided to call it quits in 2006.
Besides the $42 prime rib, part of the restaurant’s attraction is Muresan’s massive muscles. She can do 500-pound leg presses and 200- pound squats but still has a 24-inch waist.
The former runner started bodybuilding in 2004 as a way to get back in shape.
While Muresan loves to look like a million bucks, she’s no snob. She regularly dispenses diet advice to curious bar patrons and has helped many customers lose weight, she said.
And though she gets challenged to arm-wrestle “all day long,” Muresan usually declines. She doesn’t want to embarrass her male patrons with her finger-crushing grip.
“We want them to come back,” she joked.
hhaddon@nypost.com
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