Prager Will Be Puttin’ on Ritz for Charity

He slips into a cushy leather booth at his Ritz restaurant in Newport Beach and talks of the late ‘40s, his days as a chef apprentice at the Waldorf Astoria in New York.

But not for long. No sooner has Hans Prager reminisced about the Duke and Duchess of Windsor--”they kept an apartment at the Waldorf Towers and would come to the room service kitchen and pass out cartons of cigarettes to everyone behind the cooking line,”--the Shah of Iran, and Nikita S. Khrushchev, then he launches into some tales of tomorrow.

Like, why he knows his restaurant will still be thriving at Fashion Island in 20 years: “I’m never satisfied, never happy here . . . always looking for a better way of doing things. I think that’s the secret.” Or the culinary fantasy, “A Salute to Escoffier,” he’s planning for the Ritz’s 10th anniversary on Oct. 11: “It will start with smoked sturgeon and caviar and go on to include lobster, quail, souffle and every fine wine imaginable,” Prager says. “But first, we’ll enjoy champagne upstairs on the terrace with the view of the ocean.”

Still romantic after all these years. “Well, fads come and go,” he says, smiling, “but I see the Ritz as a classic, like the 21 club in New York. It still works. And the Ritz works.”

Prager has invited seven prominent chefs to join him in creating the menu for the $502-per-couple gala dinner, a benefit staged by Fair Share 502 on behalf of Share Our Selves of Costa Mesa.

Helping oversee the preparations will be Michal Kang of Five Feet Too, Pascal Olhats of Pascal, Alan Greeley of the Golden Truffle, Jean Pierre Lemanissier of Antoine, Christian Rassinoux of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, John McLaughlin of J.W.’s and Lupe Camarena of the Ritz.

“We hope to raise a minimum of $100,000,” says attorney Peter Zeughauser, president of Fair Share 502. “Share Our Selves has a $260,000 mortgage on its facility, and we’re aiming to help them burn it.” A few businesses have come forward with challenge grants of $25,000. “If those pledges are met, we might be able to burn the mortgage the night of the party,” says Zeughauser.

For reservations, call (714) 720-2286.

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The mega-buzz: Pop singer Michael Bolton (“Sole Provider,” “Time, Love and Tenderness,” “When a Man Loves a Woman”) will be the star of a benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in late November in the Disneyland Hotel’s Grand Ballroom. The gala dinner and auction will also feature saxophonist Kenny G.

Seems a performance by the two musicians was up for auction at a ski weekend benefit in Squaw Valley last winter and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation activist Sue Hook and her husband, Dave, along with friends Roger and Eva Mann, combined forces ($25,000 each) to win a performance by the stars. Proceeds from the event, the exact date of which has not been set, are expected to be in the $250,000 range. Stay tuned. . . .

The Hard Rock Cafe at Newport Center Fashion Island will be launched the first weekend of November, say insiders. Watch for a gala benefit opening that will entertain about 2,500 guests.

If we can use the christenings of other Hard Rocks as a yardstick--performances by the late Roy Orbison and Aerosmith and the Neville Brothers, for example--Orange County will have one of its most important benefit concerts ever . “Oh yeah, it’s going to be a super-biggie,” says an assistant to Peter Morton, owner of Hard Rock. “Newport Beach is going to rock and roll. We just haven’t firmed up who is going to appear yet.” Decide already. . . .

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Vive La Boheme!: For a mere $25 above their ticket price, opera lovers feasted on souffle, tiny roast beef sandwiches and fresh fruit--and more--at the Plaza Tower courtyard on Saturday following the opening night performance of “La Boheme” presented by Opera Pacific at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

“Ooh la la!” piped one of about 350 guests, spotting fresh raspberries sitting atop the white chocolate and Grand Marnier souffles whipped up by Diva restaurant. “Bohemians never had it so good.”

Feasts for the eyes included lighted mini-replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, reminders of the scenes from Paris that guests had enjoyed in the Segerstrom Hall production.

This is the kind of party arts lovers have been hungering for. After theater, a place to congregate and celebrate while benefiting the arts is the ideal social outing.

Zee Allred and Barbara Roberts were co-chairwomen of the black-tie preferred event. An elegant crowd. Move over L.A.

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The man who stayed and stayed: The nightmare of every hostess came true on the stage of South Coast Repertory on Friday night “When the Man Who Came to Dinner” (and grumpily stayed for weeks) opened. Watching Sheridan Whiteside (played by I.M. Hobson)--the curmudgeon of curmudgeons--turn a small-town Ohio family inside out had theater-goers giggling and wringing their hands.

What would they have done with the irascible pest? “Keep some Chivas Regal on his night stand,” joked Craig Kalthoff, director of nursing for Kaiser Permanente, honorary producer of the play which runs through Oct. 11. “Throw the bum out!” said new SCR board member Dick Leeuwenburg, CEO of Vans shoes. “Awww, I’d try to be hospitable,” said Jann Leeuwenburg. “Depending on my biorhythm.”

During the play’s preview period, Kaiser Permanente staged a benefit viewing for the Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled at SCR.

Last year Kaiser gave a $25,000 Good Neighbor Grant to the center, which helps people with disabilities learn to live independently.