Fish bake warms relations

Kids don’t generally enjoy long sermons and Communion wafers, and some older people might get a little impatient around a bunch of rowdy children, but it all comes together like a chorus after church Fridays at the weekly fish bake.

At least that is the philosophy behind the long-standing Lenten tradition at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic church in Newport Beach, where parishioners serve fried cod and baked ono each meatless Friday during the 40-day period leading up to Easter.

About 300 people of all ages attended the fish bake after Mass this week. Adults eat and socialize while the children bus tables. But it could hardly be called work when the kids spend so much time running around with their friends, giggling and wheeling the carts around like race cars.

“These fish bakes bring everyone together,” said Jennifer Clark, the parish life coordinator. “You have older people working side-by-side with teenagers and young children.”

“It builds community and brings parishioners together in an environment other than church,” Tom Norris said on his break from serving fish.

Norris is a longtime churchgoer who has been working the fish beat for 20 years with his wife, Lucille. But despite his devotion to work, he spends as much time cracking jokes as he does serving up the fish.

The fish bake is a volunteer effort, which might seem miraculous to someone who sees only the final product. A spread of baked ono with remoulade, red potatoes and breaded cod sits in hotel pans before being portioned out by the friendly staff.

“We start cooking right after morning Mass on Fridays,” said Thais O’Neil, a warm, hospitable woman who won’t let anyone sit down without food on their plate. “People walk right over and start washing and peeling potatoes together, and we work through the day.”

At the busiest times, 30 parishioners work in the kitchen, which has no executive chef — a thought that would give any ordinary professional cook nightmares.

“It’s really a team effort,” said Andrew Capek, one of the newest cooks on the line.

Capek, 26, who has been attending the church for 1½ years since moving to Orange County from Arizona, is a sous chef at Neiman Marcus during the week, but helps out with the fish bake on his Fridays off. He made the sauce for the night’s meal.

The two people in charge of the bake are Richard Luehrs, whose day job is president of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce, and Thais O’Neil, wife of former Newport Beach Mayor Dennis O’Neil. Other notable parishioners include ex-Mayor John Heffernan, Jack Crevier of Crevier BMW and Lakers star Kobe Bryant.

Luehrs, who comes with his family each week, places all of the food orders and handles a lot of the technical aspects of the operation. He has been in charge of the event for four years.

“I’m just trying to earn credits,” Luehrs said, laughing, “so that when I die I go straight to heaven.”

The fish bake happens every Friday during Lent at 6:15 p.m. directly after the 5:30 p.m. mass and lasts until 7:15 p.m. It costs $8 for adults, $5 for children and $25 for a family.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at [email protected].