The Ritz Restaurant in Newport Beach will stay open until June 2013, a managing partner confirmed Friday. The Irvine Co. granted the more than 30-year-old upscale restaurant an additional six months on its Fashion Island lease, which was set to expire January 2013, managing partner Ray Jacobi said. "It gives us a little more breathing room to look for new location," he said. While no new areas have been identified yet, Jacobi would like to keep the restaurant local. "We thought of being outside of Newport Beach," Jacobi said.
If it is a summer Friday night in Newport, the Ritz is arguably the place to be and be seen. In the grand tradition of the neighborhood pub, the remarkable Ritz, founded three decades ago by the late local legend Hans Prager and presently in the hands of the talented and hard-working Ray Jacobi , welcomes the social crowd in waves for some high-energy summer-weekend escape. On his European-inspired outdoor dining room Jacobi turns Friday nights into "Island Fever" in the garden, featuring an Hawaiian-style luau complete with a bit of Polynesian-themed entertainment.
The Ritz Restaurant, an institution for more than 30 years, will have to leave its Newport Center location because the Irvine Co. declined to renew its lease. The lease expires January 2013. Perhaps the most formal and traditional restaurant in Newport, The Ritz caters to longtime residents who can find its tucked-away spot at the base of an office plaza. The Irvine Co., which will be trying to fill some adjacent office space, is looking for more modern tenants. "We celebrate the role The Ritz has played in Newport Beach," Irvine Co. spokeswoman Erin Freeman wrote in a statement.
They come for the friendship. They come for the fabulous food. They come to buy chance tickets for one of the most incredible door prize raffles on the social circuit. Mostly, they come to support Chapman University at the annual Christmas at The Ritz celebration. Since 1987, many of the most fashionable set in Newport-Mesa and Orange County have come together in early December to enjoy the holiday season and raise funds for a variety of Chapman University needs.
The 19th annual Christmas at the Ritz presented by the Fashionable Women of Chapman University raised an impressive $172,000 for the university. The Fashionable Women really should change their name to the Incredible Fundraising Women inasmuch as the ladies made a pledge to Chapman University to raise $500,000 over a five-year period. They raised the funds in 2 1/2 years, honoring their pledge, and brought in close to $200,000 more last weekend at their annual Christmas luncheon.
B.W. Cook They are positively unstoppable. The Fashionables that is, a support group of Chapman University. Gathering in regal force for their 13th annual Christmas at The Ritz, Newport Beach, the small, but indefatigable cadre of local women and men raised $80,000 earmarked for Chapman's Ray and Pauline Wallace All Faiths Chapel. All that money and a wonderful luncheon, too, complete with plenty of hugs and kisses by and for old friends who look forward to this lunch during the holiday season with great anticipation.
The main attraction at The Clubhouse's Mother's Day brunch (which will be held May 14, but you knew that already) is supposed to be the spread of smoked salmon, Eggs Benedict, beef tenderloin and other tasty goodies.Call us perverse, but even with all these treats on the menu, Retail Roundup is still most excited about the buffet for "junior members," which features mini corn dog bites and mac and cheese. Those delicacies are only for children 12 and younger.
Stephen Santacroce As a child, Thanksgiving didn't really rank high on my list of holidays. Christmas, of course, was the biggie, as my sister and I eagerly awaited Santa's arrival and all the fun toys that came with it. Halloween was a close second; who could resist all that candy, even if my dad did eat most of it after mom put it away so we wouldn't get stomachaches? Easter was next on the list. Searching the house for the little chocolate eggs my parents hid was always something to look forward to, even if a few seemed to be ones from last year that hadn't been found.
While Valentine's Day promises love for some, it marks an imminent end to the longstanding love affair between the Ritz Restaurant and its current Newport Beach location. Facing a Feb. 28 deadline to vacate its premises near Fashion Island, the restaurant is preparing to host its final meals Friday and Saturday. Patrons will arrive Friday to a $95 four-course Valentine's Day dinner. The next day, a $150 three-course lunch will be followed by a $250 four-course dinner. Proceeds from Saturday will be divided among all staff working that day, said restaurant Controller Laurie Virtue.
The classy Christmas at the Ritz holiday luncheon Saturday benefiting Chapman University attracted a sold-out crowd, raising nearly $190,000. The 26th annual celebration is produced by the Women of Chapman support group, this season chaired by the lovely Kim Smith. Since its founding in 1971, the Women of Chapman have donated $1.5 million to the university, including fulfilling a $500,000 pledge specifically earmarked in support of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Presently, the group has set its sights on raising $1 million in support of the coming Musco Center for the Arts slated for completion in 2014.
Talk About Curing Autism, which is based in Irvine, is having its sixth annual Ante Up for Autism event, a casino-type fundraiser for the organization at the Ritz Carlton in Dana Point Saturday at 5 p.m. It is a star-studded event featuring celebrities, pro poker players and athletes. Johnathon Schaech, who played the lead singer of The Wonders in the movie "That Thing You do," is a host along with Kate Voegele, who played Mia in the TV show, "One Tree Hill," and is also a singer-songwriter.
A cyclist killed in a weekend hit-and-run accident in Newport Coast was remembered Monday as an empathetic physician who practiced at Newport Family Medicine on Superior Avenue. Dr. Catherine "Kit" Campion Ritz, 57, of Irvine was described by her husband, Patrick Ritz, as "a perfect person" who was devoted to being a good family practitioner and was "compassionate and charitable. " For the past 18 years, Campion Ritz, who used her maiden name professionally, served as the president of Greater Newport Physicians.
Santa Claus anta Claus came to the Ritz Restaurant last Saturday for lunch with a bunch of very big girls and boys. It was Christmas at the Ritz presented by the Fashionable Women of Chapman University. This 22nd annual holiday gathering was chaired by Newport’s lovely Kathy Hamilton with major support from Fashionables’ President Charlene Prager and a committee that included society ringleader Donna Bunce, Donna Bianchi, Rusty Hood, Sue Hook, Carol Lee, and the angelic platinum blond Nora Johnson . Also dedicated to the Chapman cause were Adrienne Brennan, Marci Hollander, Christine Sullivan, Barbara Eidson, Joanne Jurczyk, and Anne Manassero . This major holiday luncheon began with a cocktail reception in the Ritz Garden that was virtually shoulder to shoulder with patrons all dressed in their Christmas finest.