Rib Cage Opens in Newport

Fred Burrell has opened a new Burrell’s Rib Cage BBQ in Newport Beach, across from city hall. He said he’s serving city council members, the fire department and the public works employees, among others. “They’re all thrilled to have a little bit of home cooking down there,� he said.

This is Burrell’s fourth venture. It opened Jan. 8 and is the only Burrell’s that is exclusively take-out and does free home delivery within a 5- to 10-mile radius. Part of the reason is that there is so little parking nearby, Burrell said.

But he also says the Newport Beach crowd likes to dine at home. Come summer, when Newporters take to the sea, Burrell is hoping to add dockside delivery by boat.

The menu does not include breakfast but offers most of the lunch and dinner items that can be found at other Burrell’s: beef ribs, pork spare ribs, baby back ribs and hot sandwiches.

His Irvine-based company has two other locations, on Sand Canyon Road in Irvine and on Hesperion in Santa Ana (the original). Burrell sold his restaurant on McFadden Avenue in Santa Ana in April.

3305 Newport Blvd. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to midnight, and Sunday till 10 p.m. (714) 723-7240.

El Torito Grill is offering a Super Bowl “six pack� on Sunday--a take-out Southwestern meal that feeds six people for $25. The package includes corn chips, salsa and guacamole, blue corn duck taquitos and Waco wings. The entree is soft tacos and sweet corn tamales. The package is available only from the Costa Mesa location, 633 Anton Blvd. Orders may be placed on Super Bowl Sunday beginning at 11 a.m. (714) 662-2672.

David Wilhelm’s Diva restaurant will offer a special for circus-goers on Saturday, which is opening night of Cirque du Soleil’s Costa Mesa visit. The package of dinner and circus tickets is $100 per person; the price includes seats in the Big Top (normally $12.50 to $35.50) plus a three-course dinner of menu selections at Diva. Alcoholic beverages are additional. 600 Anton Blvd., Costa Mesa. (714) 754-0600.

Chef Jean Pierre Lemanissier of Restaurant Antoine has created a prix fixe menu, available during February, that centers on rice. The meal offers shrimp wrapped in rice paper with rice vinegar dressing, wild rice blinis with smoked salmon and saki butter sauce, steamed red mullet with curry sauce and basmati coconut rice and roasted squab with two-color risotto and rice wine juice. For dessert, there is puffed crispy rice cake.

The cost is $48 a person, plus tax and tip. 4500 MacArthur Blvd., Newport Beach, inside Le Meridien Hotel. (714) 476-2001.

Antoine is also hosting a “bring your own bottle� dinner for wine connoisseurs today and Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. California Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons are suggested to accompany a five-course dinner created from California ingredients. Dishes include sauteed Santa Barbara shrimp with a crunchy cucumber relish, steamed Pacific sea bream (a porgy fish) with caviar dressing, roasted rack of Sonoma lamb with polenta vegetable puree in lime juice, terrine of blue-veined California goat cheese with mesclun salad, and a mille-feuille of Golden State ruby-red strawberry mousse.

The price is $65 per person, plus tax and tip. Corkage fees are waived.