CHECKING IN WITH...NEWPORT RIB CO.:

Turkey Day’s coming so we thought, hey, what if you wanted to mix it up this year and really freak out your mother-in-law? How about ribs for Thanksgiving? Well, we know an expert when we see one so this week we checked in with Newport Rib Co. proprietor John Ursini to get some tips for holiday party catering.

We suppose this is your busiest time of the year. How much lead time do customers need to give you to cater a party?

Not very long! It often depends on how much service and how many people are involved. To arrange a pick up of a party pack for 10 to 50 guests we would like to have one day, but we have been able to accommodate groups of this size within an hour “if we have to.” But don’t tell my chef I said that. For groups of 60 up to 1,500 it’s much nicer to have at least a week’s notice, especially if we’re arranging for rentals, bartenders, linens, on-site cooking and/or entertainment.

What are some of the more popular requests this year for catered parties?

Over the years we’ve developed lots of different menus to fit all kinds of budgets and tastes. Our luau menu is used more often in the summer time, our “All American Feast” of prime rib and turkey is used a lot for weddings and more formal settings, and our “Sandwich Bar” has become very popular in the past year because it’s a little less expensive than the other menus! But our basic menu with baby-back ribs, barbecued chicken, slow-roasted tri tip, sausages, and all the trimmings is, and will always be, our most popular menu. We’ve been doing this too long to vary too much from what we do best!

What are some of the more unusual requests you’ve gotten? Do you have any amusing anecdotes of catering snafus?

We catered at the 2003 Masters Golf tournament. A friend of mine from UCLA, Scott McCarron, played in the Masters and invited me to be his guest. About a week before the tournament he asked if we could bring all the Rib Co. goodies for the pre-round dinner. We shipped everything Fed Ex and it arrived in dry ice ready for me to grill. We ended up cooking for 40 guests and he went on to finish in 23rd place. I still wonder if that’s the only reason I got invited! But I’m not complaining. And the end result of the Masters catering is that we can confidently ship ribs anywhere in the country!

As far as funny catering stories, there are a ton! When you cater as many parties as we do there’s always something interesting happening. We were catering a huge group at a UCLA tailgate last year when the grills they had rented ran out of propane! Think of looking at 450 people in line and you have no way of cooking their food — not a good feeling. Fortunately we made quick friends with Bristol Farms caterers who were cooking in the area and we used their grills to complete the food.

We’ve catered bachelor and bachelorette parties — when they thought our staff was hired to do more than serve just food. We’ve had a lot of bar mitzvahs lately and some events I can’t tell you about. The fun thing about catering is it’s always different and never boring.

It’s been a tough year with the economy, so what can people do to cater a party on a tight budget?

We have many different ways to make a holiday party on a budget. The key to holiday parties is just to have them. Whether it’s ordering our Party Paks for about $10 a head or getting full-service catering for $15 to $30 a person or anything in between, its all about getting your staff, family and friends together and breaking bread. I think most people realize that in spite of all the things going on in our world we are very fortunate to be together. Newport Rib Co. is “Comfort Food” that has all the warmth and feeling of a home-cooked meal, and that makes people enjoy the simple things in life. If someone calls us and wants us to “Do Food” we’ll almost always figure out a way to make it work, whatever the budget.

Finally, tell us about your seasonal fundraiser to benefit 25 local charities?

Our “25 Days of Charity” is a brainchild of our weekly family meetings. We meet every week to discuss business and family happenings in our three locations. Five years ago (when we had our 20-year anniversary coming up) we tried to think of a way to be a little different in how we celebrated our anniversary. We realized what we really wanted to do is say “Thank You” to the community who has supported us for such a long time. All Ursinis, from my parents down through my kids, have always been involved in our community, and we thought, “Let’s be good to those in the community who need it.” And one idea led to another and “20 Days of Charity” was born. And now we’re at “25 Days of Charity!” We choose 25 charities that are close to us (which is the hardest part of this because there are so many great charities in the area). From now until Nov. 30 anyone who dines with us or gets take-out will be given a charity card with those 25 charities listed. Our guests, at the conclusion of their meal, pick which of the 25 charities listed they want 20% of their receipt to be donated. On Dec. 2 we have representatives from all charities gather here for a picture and check presentation ceremony and Newport Rib Co. donates the cumulative amount to that charity. It works out great and if all goes well we’ll do it again for our 30th anniversary.