The Ritz founder dies at 74

Lolita Harper

Culinary genius and philanthropist Hans Prager, whose name is

practically synonymous with fine dining, died Saturday at Hoag

Hospital as the result of a heart attack and stroke. He was 74.

Prager, the celebrated restaurateur who made his mark in Newport

Beach when he opened the Ritz Restaurant and Garden, was taken off

life support on Friday night after medical tests determined he had

suffered severe brain damage from the heart attack and stroke that he

suffered Jan. 10, which left him in a coma for a week, loved ones

said.

Close friend and fellow restaurateur Ron Salisbury spoke lovingly

about the man he admired, not only for his talent in the industry but

for his incredible sense of humor and view on life.

“He is just an incredible human being,” Salisbury said. “I could

tell you stories all night. He just touched the lives of so many

people.”

Prager escaped from Nazi Germany with his family when he was a

small child and lived in Shanghai, China before coming to the United

States. Once here, he worked at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, where he

honed his talent for cooking. On the West Coast, he worked at the

Scandia restaurant and then managed the Five Crowns in Corona del

Mar.

Prager found success in many of his business ventures, opening

restaurants in Irvine, and Westminster. In 1977, he opened the Ritz

in a tiny storefront in Newport Beach. After its initial success --

credited to the delicious food, elegant ambience and Prager’s

incredible attention to detail, a regular customer convinced him to

move to its present location in Fashion Island.

In the midst of Prager’s rise to the top of the restaurant

industry, he met Bob Tucker, who became his closest friend. Although

most know Prager for his triumphs in the industry, Tucker said he was

much, much more than a restaurateur.

“He was an extraordinary fellow,” Tucker said. “There was no one

quite like him.”

One had to understand Prager’s sense of humor to really get along

with him, Tucker said, making the culinary expert a tough person to

get along with. Prager had an uncanny ability to find your “tender

spot,” Tucker said, and when he found it, he poked it.

“He raised more hell in more restaurants than anyone in town --

including his own,” Tucker said of his 40-year friend. “But he took a

deep interest in all his patrons and knew, I’d say, about 90% of all

of them -- their names, occupations and such.”

Salisbury, who comes from a restaurant family himself -- his

parents founded El Cholo restaurant, which is now a chain -- agreed

with the tough characterization of Prager. His relentless drive for

perfection could frustrate those working with him, one would come to

understand it was merely his way of drawing the ultimate potential

out of his apprentices. And this ability to push people to success is

why Salibury brags that his sons studied under Prager.

“People say, ‘Oh, my son went to Yale,’ and I say, ‘I’ve got you

beat. My sons worked for Hans Prager,’” Salisbury said.

In addition to gracing the community with a culinary gem, Prager

created the Ritz Brothers Organization, which benefited six different

charities each year. It is estimated the organization raised about

$130,000 a year for more than 20 years, friends said.

“He had involved himself in almost every charitable organization

there is,” Tucker said. “They came to him, and he sponsored events --

wined and dined and put on events for all of them.”

Carolyn Olson, whose husband, Ted, was one of the founding members

of the Ritz Brothers, said she still involved in the organization,

although her husband has passed. The brothers allowed her to

participate as a “Mrs. Ritz Brother,” which she said “was such a nice

thing to do.”

Prager would surely be missed in the community, as he has helped

so many of the great restaurants rise to greatness, Olson said.

“He brought Five Crowns back to life and did the same with 2100

Oceanfront,” Olson said. “The tradition he had going over at the Ritz

was just fantastic. The food was so great there, and the place was so

neat. He was just wonderful.”

Salisbury echoed her sentiments and could not help but choke down

emotions as he shared his most cherished memories of Prager. One

story that remains fresh in Salisbury’s mind was a meeting between

the two men in the early years of their friendship.

Prager told Salisbury that he liked him and wanted for him to be a

friend but that true friendship takes a great deal of time and

energy. And, quite frankly, his time was already taken with the dear

friends he already had. If there were room, Salisbury would be in the

group, Prager had told him.

“See, so many people say this person is my friend, or that person

is my friend but he understood the true meaning of the word and knew

what it meant to be a friend,” Salisbury said.

Tucker, who got married in Prager’s backyard, understood that

friendship as well as anyone.

“He has done so many things for me, it would take the length of

Newport to write them all down,” Tucker said. “We’ve been through 40

years, through the good and the bad, successes and disappointments,

because that’s what happens during so many years.”

Although Prager has passed on, his legacy will remain in the

hearts of his loved ones and in the memories of each person who

shared a special evening at an intimate table at the Ritz.

A private ceremony will be held next week. A wake will also be

held at the Four Seasons, which is tentatively planned for Jan. 26.