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Toss a cannoli in any direction in Vineland and you're likely to hit a number of restaurants that serve delicious pasta and other Italian fare. John and Annette Scipione, new owners of Ramada Vineland on Landis Avenue, considered that when deciding what to do with the 110-seat hotel restaurant, formerly the Continental Room.

"What we found was there's no sushi in Vineland and people were saying you can't get a good steak," John Scipione says. Thus was born Dakota Prime Steak House and Sushi Bar.

The Scipiones, a hospitable and friendly pair, have lots of experience in the food business. But they admit no expertise in sushi, so they happily researched it by frequenting a sushi restaurant in The Pier Shops at Caesars in Atlantic City.

"I was impressed with the beautiful plates and the sushi was always good," John Scipione says. So, like the enterprising business people they are, the Scipiones stole the chef.

Mike Lu, who introduces himself as "Sushi Mike," now works his magic behind the custom-made sushi bar that has been part of the transformation from the Continental Room to Dakota Prime.

"It's fantastic, very upscale," Lu says of his new setting. "I never worked in an elegant sushi bar like this. I love it."

The Scipiones plan to add glass panes to the dark maple wood sushi bar so patrons can watch Lu constructing his lovely plates. On a recent pre-Thanksgiving day, Lu garnished his Dragon Ball dish ($7.95), three balls of spicy tuna with crunchy tempura flakes topped with avocado slices, with an adorable tiny turkey made of pieces of red pepper, cucumber and carrot.

Annette Scipione says she is becoming more adventurous. She raves about the heart-shaped tuna sashimi Lu made for her.

"I couldn't believe what I was missing," Scipione says.

Lu's sushi menu includes appetizers such as edamame ($3.75), or boiled, salted soybeans, and tako su ($8.95), or octopus on top of seaweed salad with ponzu sauce; sushi rolls such as California ($4.25), sweet potato ($4.25), tempura shrimp ($8.95) and spider ($9.25) with tempura soft-shell crab; and sushi and sashimi entrees.

Lu says his personal favorite menu item is the Japanese hoagie ($14.95) - tempura shrimp, tuna, blue crab, scallion, cucumber and avocado, topped with spicy mayo and eel sauce.

Then there is the steakhouse menu. The Scipiones recruited Jim Parisi, who was working at Bally's Prime Place at the time, to be their steakhouse chef.

"He knows steak," John Scipione says. "We were very fortunate that the mix came together very well."

Leo Lopez, longtime Continental Room chef, brings continuity to the kitchen staff. (In fact, all employees stayed on when the Scipiones took over the 102-room hotel; some have worked there 20 years, including banquet manager Norma Mashenko.)

John Scipione says Dakota Prime serves only USDA certified black angus beef. There are about six steaks on the menu now - from 16-ounce Kansas City bone-in strip steak for $22.99 to a 24-ounce porterhouse for $28.50 - but he hopes to offer 10 to 11 steaks in the future.

"We're giving people value for their dollar and hoping people have a great time," Scipione says.

John Scipione's personal favorite is the 20-ounce bone-in cowboy ribeye ($28.50), which melts in your mouth; best-sellers are the 24-ounce porterhouse ($28.50) and 16-ounce bone-in filet ($29.99). As Scipione says, every meat is more flavorful when the bone's left in. Steaks are served with either a baked potato or sweet potato with cinnamon butter, salad, bread and butter.

For seafood-lovers, there are twin South African cold water lobster tail ($25.50), broiled tilapia ($16.50), crab cakes ($23.50) and pan-roasted Scottish salmon ($22.50). Also on the menu are a pork chop, veal chop and a couple of chicken dishes.

Non-meat-eaters will be thrilled with vegetable Napoleon ($19.95), grilled seasonal veggies layered between pesto and roasted red pepper sauce, served over a bed of sautéed spinach. Side dishes big enough for two ($6.95) include seven cheese macaroni and cheese and sauteed broccoli rabe.

Among appetizers is the eye-catching colossal crab cocktail ($11.50) - huge chunks of crabmeat served in a martini glass with Dijon mustard sauce.

"When that goes through the dining room, people go, ‘Wow,'" John Scipione says.

Scipione says he came up with the giant Spanish onion ring appetizer ($7.95), served with honey Dijon sauce, when he was fooling around in the kitchen one day making bowls to hold mashed potatoes out of the huge onions. Other appetizers include mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat ($9.95) and tomato and mozzarella salad ($8.95).

Generous-sized drinks - martinis are served with a sidecar, a mini carafe that contains a refill - come from the full bar in the adjacent Harry's Lounge.

With the recent installation of new carpeting, the transformation from Continental Room to Dakota Prime is almost complete. Other changes to the dining room are a gleaming bamboo floor, colorful abstract artwork and warm brown curtains. Two burbling water walls etched with the Dakota Prime logo are a striking conversation piece.

The Scipiones (son John, a recent college graduate, came on board to work at the property recently, and son Louis, a high school student, helps out; their oldest, daughter Nicole, lives in New York City) say they have enjoyed a great reception from both patrons and the city as Ramada's new owners.

"Vineland has welcomed us with open arms," John Scipione says, adding members of the Kejzman family, the hotel's previous owners, have lent invaluable expertise.

Having already made huge changes, the Scipiones have even bigger plans for both the Ramada and Dakota Prime.

"Everyone asks us about the name Dakota and says, ‘Is that a chain?' I say, ‘Not yet,'" John Scipione says.

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