This is no put-on: The Ritz will return Oct. 12

The beloved Ritz Restaurant is coming back to Newport Beach with a revamped space along Mariner’s Mile, a seafood-centric menu and a modified name.

The Ritz Prime Seafood will open Oct. 12 at a waterfront location, 2801 West Coast Highway, in the space formerly occupied by the Chart House, a seafood restaurant that closed last year.

The original Ritz Restaurant, famous for its red-lipped waitresses and three-martini lunches, had a long history in Newport Beach before it closed in 2014.

Hans Prager opened the upscale eatery in the city in 1977 near the Newport Pier, then relocated to the more chic Newport Center in 1982 where it remained until the site manager, the Irvine Co., declined to renew its lease.

Grill Concepts’ CEO Bob Spivak partnered with owner Charles Mathewson last year and decided to revamp the restaurant at a new location overlooking Newport Harbor.

Spivak said it was important to him to acknowledge Prager’s impact on culinary history with the Ritz concept. A bronze plaque outside the new restaurant pays homage to the late restaurateur.

“At the time Hans opened the Ritz, it was a cutting-edge restaurant, but 35 years later things had changed,” Spivak said. “We knew if we were going to do it, it would have to be the type of restaurant Hans would open if he was opening it in 2015.”

Wood tables, sans the Ritz’s classic white tablecloths, and floor-to-ceiling windows that bring natural light into the restaurant make the decor more modern than the landmark restaurant’s black leather booths and red chairs, Spivak said.

The restaurant, which can accommodate 186 guests indoors and 40 on the patio, also boasts waterfront harbor views.

The location nformed the menu, Spivak said.

“When you look out at this water with the sun, and wonder what you’re going to serve, there’s only one thing that comes to mind, and it’s seafood,” he said.

Grill Concepts’ executive chef Phil Kastel developed the menu alongside Michael Stewart, who will take charge as executive chef, providing guests with dinner and weekend brunch.

The Ritz Prime Seafood’s menu will feature such items as grilled lobster topped with burgundy truffles and dry, aged prime steaks with umami butter or foie gras butter. The restaurant also will have a raw bar with fresh oysters and seafood flown in daily.

“The menu at The Ritz Prime Seafood represents the way people dine today,” Kastel said in a prepared statement. “Our approach and preparations let the wonderful flavors of our ultra-fresh seafood, meats and other ingredients shine through in an appealing, modern and clean way.”

However, diners will find one memorable item on the menu from the original restaurant. The Ritz Egg, which is a soft scrambled organic egg topped with caviar and smoked salmon with a shot of cold vodka, will be served alongside the new options.

“We have taken the Ritz into 2015 with what we hope will have another 35-year lifespan that will be timeless for its period,” Spivak said.

The Ritz Prime Seafood will offer dinner from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Sundays through Wednesdays and from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. Weekend brunch will be served from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.