Stepping into Vinnie's Steak House in Arlington Village is like walking back in time to have dinner with Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack.

Nick Sarrocco, a longtime Triangle restaurateur who owns Vinnie's with Greenville resident Alan Arcara, said everything about the restaurant is simple and substantial: big steaks, big shrimp, big potatoes, stiff drinks.

"We don't claim to be anything but a great steak house," Sarrocco said.

At Vinnie's front door, on the Arlington Boulevard side of the building, is a refrigerated case packed with the steaks and seafood that Executive Chef Kevin Dew will cook to your order. The traditional chop house menu is heavy on steaks and chops, with a few seafood selections, six classic appetizers, and a couple of salads and side dishes sold separately.

The specialty of the house is a 36-to-38-ounce slab of bone-in prime rib ($39). A limited amount of prime rib is available nightly. Steaks include filet mignon ($25 for 8 ounces), prime bone-in New York Strip ($46 for 24 ounces) and Vinnie's Rib-eye ($24 for 16 ounces). Chops include porterhouse veal chop ($30 for 14 ounces), lamb chops ($26 for three 4-ounce chops) and porterhouse pork chop ($21 for 16 ounces).

Seafood offerings include salmon fillet ($22 for 10 ounces), ahi tuna steak ($21 for 10 ounces), swordfish steak ($23 for 10 ounces), jumbo scallops ($25) and cold-water lobster tail (market price).

All entrees are served with a choice of baked potato or cottage fries, French fries or hash browns, all hand-cut at the restaurant.

Salads, sold separately, include Caesar with shaved Parmesan, spinach with warm bacon dressing and Vinnie's House Salad, all $6, and iceberg wedge with tomatoes and Roquefort, $7. All are served with house-made dressings.

Side dishes, also sold a la carte, include creamed spinach, sautéed mushrooms caps sautéed spinach, haircot verts, broccoli and beer-battered onion rings, all $6, and asparagus, $8.

French onion soup is $7 and lobster bisque is $8.

Sarrocco said the wine list is still a work-in-progress. Vinnie's has full ABC permits.

Sarrocco said a couple of traditional chop house desserts — banana cream pie and apple pie — are offered, "but nobody orders them. They're too full."

Sarrocco has opened 15 restaurants in the Trangle area in his career, including the original Vinnie's Steak House (now under new ownership), Tony's Oyster Bar, Fiore's and Casa Nicola.

"Most of my restaurants have been Italian," said Sarrocco, "When I decided to open a steak house, I stole from the best there was."

He retired from restaurant life 10 years ago, but had become a bit bored. All Arcara, a retired pilot had eaten at Sarrocco's restaurants for years, who had to do was say, "Nick, let's open a restaurant in Greenville," Arcara said.

"I told Alan to find a location, and we looked at five or six. I told him if he got this spot, I was in," Sarrocco said. The location is the former Bellagio Italian restaurant at the busy intersection of Arlington Boulevard and Red Banks Road.

Sarrocco said he knew just how he wanted the restaurant to look "I drew it up in 15 minutes," he said.

The once light and airy restaurant — as well as the long-shuttered adjacent space that served as the kitchen gadget shop Kitchen Cupboard — have undergone a complete transformation.

The dining room and lounge have all the men's-club ambience of a traditional chop house — wood-paneled walls, dark green ceiling, burgundy curtains, plush floral patterned carpet, low lighting, white tablecloths, a baby grand piano and a large bar. Sarrocco said the ambience is perfect for business deals between movers nd shakers. There are seats for 90-95 people in the dining room. A private meeting/banquet room, which seats 65-70, is available. The bar, the only space where smoking is allowed, can accommodate 75 patrons.

Sarrocco said he's ordered 500 empty black photo frames. He said he plans to take photos of diners who come into Vinnie's, and will cover the walls with those photos. "Our patrons are our celebrities," he said.

Hours are 5 p.m.-1 a.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Reservations are accepted; call 756-3700.

Barbecue Trail

Two Pitt County barbecue restaurants — B's in Greenville and The Skylight Inn in Ayden — were mentioned prominently in USA Today's cover story on The North Carolina barbecue Historic Trail in the June 8 Life section.

The route linking 25 of the Tar Heel state's smoked pork joints is the brainchild of author and barbecue lover Jim Early, who traversed the state to research "The Best Tar Heel Barbecue: Manteo to Murphy."

The USA Today writer visited a number of stops on the trail (details are at ncbbqsociety.com), including B's and The Skylight Inn.

She notes that customers begin lining up for B's barbecue at 9 a.m. and quotes pit master Dexter Sherrod saying, "They eat barbecue for breakfast around here."

She also writes that the Skylight Inn's menu consists of "barbecue with a side of slaw and a thick slab of cornbread. Period." she quotes Samuel Jones, grandson of Skylight Inn's founder, the late Pete Jones, as saying, "It's not about what you want. Its how much of it."

The article includes photos of B's Barbecue owner Tammy Godley holding a plate of 'cue, flanked by her sisters and co-owners Judy Drach and Donna McLawhorn and Judy's son David. (Judy's wearing an East Carolina University T-shirt.) There's also a photo of the road sign marking the intersection of B's Barbeque Road and West Fifth Street and a hand-painted sign noting that B's is closed on "Sun an Mon."

Also pictured is Samuel Jones, grandson of the late Pete Jones who founded The Skylight Inn, in a refrigerator full of 150-pound hogs.

Farmers Market

The Pitt County Farmers Market, 4560 County Home Road, will feature a food demonstration on bell peppers, with samples, from 8 a.m.-noon Saturday. A children's corner with free activities will be offered.

Available this week at the market: string beans, pole beans, bush beans, broccoli, beets, cabbage, collards, turnips, cucumbers, red tomatoes, green tomatoes, roma tomatoes, lettuce, onion, carrots, a variety of squashes, sweet potatoes, new potatoes, June peas, Japanese radishes, kale, kohlrabi, white sweet potatoes, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupes and peaches.

Also for sale will be such herbs as basil, mint and chervil.

The Pitt County Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m-1 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays.

Nibbles

Join the Vegetarians in Pitt County for dinner at Thai Kitchen, 2400 S. Memorial Dr. from 5-7 p.m. Sunday. Vegetarian soup, appetizer, three entrees and dessert will be served for $12 for adult and $8 for children ages 6-12. Children ages 5 and under eat free. Reservations should be made by 329-0615 or 757-3816. The group's Web site is www.myspace.com/veginpittco.

Cindirene's Beer & Wine Shop, 559 Third St. in downtown Ayden, will hold a mead tasting from 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday. Samples of Polish, Irish and North Carolina meads will be offered. Cost is $5. Call Chuck Dunn at 746-9222.

Eclectic Gallery and Dessert Bar at Colonial Mall is offering live jazz music by The Dixieland Jazz Band from 7-9:30 each Thursday in June. Local award-winning artist Richard Wilson Jr., who has a working studio/gallery in the Eclectic, will unveil a piece of art in his jazz series at 7 p.m. June 21.

New additions to the dessert menu include Summer Berry Stacks, Dreamsicle Cheesecake and Ooey Gooey Peanut Butter Bars.

The Eclectic Gallery is at 714 S.E. Greenville Blvd. near Pier One Imports. Call 321-1789.

Hot Dish is a weekly column of restaurant and food news. To submit items for consideration, call Jane Hudson at 329-9577, fax 754-8140 or e-mail jhudson@coxnc.com.