BUSINESS WATCH:

Alex Fernandez has only operated a Newport Beach restaurant for two and a half months, but he’s starting to feel like he moved to the right place.

The operating partner for Blue Coral Seafood and Spirits recently signed up for the second annual Newport Beach Restaurant Week, a five-day culinary bash put on by the city’s Restaurant Assn. Almost as soon as Fernandez took the helm of Blue Coral, fellow restaurant owners began recommending the event to him, and he’s already sent in his application and planned his three-course meal for January.

“I believe some good numbers will come from this,” Fernandez said. “Even if it’s just a few, it’s good exposure. It’s an opportunity to get in front of some new faces.”

As Blue Coral and other restaurants join the fold, Peggy Fort, the spokeswoman for the Restaurant Assn. and organizer of Restaurant Week, is carefully keeping score. She gathered more than 70 locations for the first event this year, and her goal this time — preferably before the first publicity materials go out in mid-November — is to hit triple digits.

“Restaurateurs have a lot on their plate, no pun intended,” Fort said. “So the challenge is to get in front of them and tell them about the campaign.”

Fort has yet to hear back from a number of locations, but the lineup for Jan. 20-24 has still grown at a fast clip; 13 of the 44 restaurants committed by the end of last week hadn’t participated in the first event. New arrivals included the upscale English-style Five Crowns Restaurant in Corona del Mar, the Alley Restaurant in West Newport and Arches on the Water, the seaside property recently created by longtime Arches owner Dan Marcheano.

Restaurants that participate in the event pay a $150 registration fee and create a fixed-price three-course menu with an appetizer, an entree and dessert. The event not only spotlights restaurants but also benefits Newport Beach’s adopted Marines; the gala launch party Jan. 14 at the Balboa Bay Club, like the one this year, will raise funds for the 1st Battalion from Camp Pendleton.

Fort, who conceived the idea for Restaurant Week, has mostly targeted high-end restaurants, but said she would accommodate smaller venues that expressed an interest in joining.

“If we have a little mom-and-pop sandwich place that wants to do Restaurant Week, we’ll work to help them be a part of it,” she said.

MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.