Sharply dressed in a black and white tuxedo, Frank Lechuga looks as if he just stepped out of a 1940s nightclub. Amid the clatter of silverware on plates and people talking in the small Italian restaurant, he picks up his microphone and begins to sing.

There's no stage, but Lechuga doesn't need one. People stop to listen, forks poised in midair, pasta dangling. The sound of Frank Sinatra fills the air.

With a twinkle in his blue eyes, he approaches tables and asks guests what they would like to hear.

A favorite Sinatra tune, perhaps? Or maybe something by Tony Bennett or Vic Damone? Or an Italian song?

Lechuga's quick wit and charming smile has the ability to make grown women giggle like schoolgirls.

Lechuga, a Westminster resident, makes an appearance at Vincenza's Italian Bakery, 8000 W. 44th Ave., in Wheat Ridge every Friday and Saturday night, performing songs from Sinatra and other classic big-band artists.

Lechuga grew up listening to Sinatra's hits on the radio and has always liked the singer's style.

"It was his cockiness, his charisma," he said. "The way he caressed the words of his songs. It makes you listen."

Lechuga emulates the Sinatra's charismain his own way. It isn't just his voice that draws people in, it's the way he sings to you, as if you're the only one in the room.

"What I love about performing is that it taught me to sing without any nervousness or shyness," Lechuga said. "It's an opportunity to deliver, to make people really listen."

One night, Lechuga noticed a woman crying at her table. Without inquiring to why she was upset, he sang two songs for her. Afterward, she approached him, gave him a hug and said that he had made her night.

"That's the power of doing your job," he said.

Although Lechuga may sing to women, he only has eyes for his wife, Phyllis, who has attended the majority of his performances during the 26 years they've been married.

Phyllis' presence keeps flirty women at bay and also keeps potentially jealous husbands or boyfriends calm, Lechuga said.

"Frank and I have fun together," Phyllis said. Although she said she doesn't consider herself a singer, the pair will occasionally perform a duet. The two are a hit especially at senior centers.

"The old men like me," Phyllis said with a laugh, "because we're even younger than they are!"

During Lechuga's career, he has performed in lounges in downtown Denver, casinos in Black Hawk, private diner parties, his brother's restaurant, charity events and other venues.

He was interviewed on Denver's 7 news the day Sinatra died,singing a tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes at a downtown bar.

Lechugahas also been asked to sing at marriage proposals.

In the early 1970s, he toured the country with a 16-piece orchestra. They performed in Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago - pretty much "every state in the union," Lechuga said.

In the late '70s, Lechuga got the thrill of singing with Vic Damone when Damone visted Denver.

"He asked me who my favorite singer was, and I said, "Vic, why'd you have to ask me that?' because he's quite an artist, " Lechuga remembered.

"But I had to admit my favorite was Frank Sinatra, and Vic told me that hewas his favorite singer, too, when he was younger," Lechuga said.

When he used to perform at La Dolce Vita in Castle Pines, the owner would put Lechuga's name on the menu.

One restaurant advertisement proclaimed, "There's no better complement to your food than the singing of Frank Lechuga!"

"I always say, 'my music helps the spaghetti go down,'" he said with a chuckle.

At 71, Lechuga has no plans of slowing down anytime soon.

"The doctor calls me a Mercedes. He told me, 'Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!" Lechuga said. "And I said, 'I'll keep on singing!'"