Morton’s dynamic duo, GM JC Clow and sommelier William Lewis, are leaving the South Coast Village steak house to open their own restaurant in South County backed by “celebrity athletes,” the Insider hears. Clow has run Morton’s since it opened 12 years ago. The location is the second busiest to Las Vegas in the 71-restaurant chain. Clow said his severance agreement prevented him from discussing details. But he said he’s appreciative of Morton’s, his last day there is Oct. 31 and he’s “very excited about the next chapter” …
Concordia University in Irvine has a growing student body, energized donors, a new provost (Mary Scott) and a $20 million education, business and technology center set to open in February. Now all it needs is a business dean. It’s been about a year since the search began for an “academic or business leader” to head the program. The catch is, candidates must belong to, or be willing to convert to, the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church. Meanwhile, the B-school is being overseen by retired Johnson & Johnson exec John Friend and academic dean John Rooney …
Concordia has named the new center in honor of benefactor Robert Grimm, an OC native and co-owner of Bakersfield-based carrot grower Grimmway Farms, who died of a heart attack in March at age 54. Widow Kari, who has doubled the family’s pledge to $6 million, was on hand for the recent beam-signing ceremony … Gov. Arnold, Warren Buffett and Fred Glusman’s buddy, betting-machine king Chuck Mathewson of International Game Technology, noshed on the Ritz Egg (a smoked salmon scramble topped with Sevruga caviar) at The Ritz in Newport Center …
And the Guv will be at Crystal Cove Beach Tuesday for an “Endless Summer”-themed fund-raiser featuring Robert August, a star of the 1966 film classic …
The OCBJ has steadily bumped up its annual estimate of Donald Bren’s wealth, to $8.7 billion on our August list. By contrast, Forbes had stubbornly stuck close to a $4 billion figure for several years despite the rocketing value of OC real estate, before finally doubling its estimate of Bren’s wealth in the past two years. Forbes now is at $8.5 billion, in line with the OCBJ, but we’re still waiting for the thank-you note …
A full house of 500,benefactors in business and cocktail attire, students in jeans,gave a standing “O” to an advance screening of the action flick “Flyboys” at Chapman U’s new Folino Theater. Professor David Ward, who wrote the script, now is onto an even bigger project,he’s screenwriter for a biopic of Buddha, an M Films production budgeted for an estimated $120 million and endorsed by the Dalai Lama …
Odd couple: The New Yorker Festival in Manhattan has sold out Saturday’s panel discussion on the midterm elections featuring conservative Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach and liberal Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
