Hour Detroit: 'Tre Monti is No. 1 in 2013' - What Say You, Troy?

Hour Detroit magazine honored Tre Monti Ristorante in Troy with an award for 2013 Restaurant of the Year in its March issue.

The honor returns to Oakland County, joining recent winners Forest Grill in Birmingham (2009) and Mon Jin Lau in Troy (2008), following two years in Detroit, with Joe Muer Seafood and Iridescence.

"Restaurant of the Year should be an exquisite, white-linen place you’d like to go to celebrate an anniversary or after landing a big account," Hour Detroit editor Steve Wilke said through a release. "And Tre Monti fits the bill on all fronts. As restaurant critic Molly Abraham noted, Restaurant of the Year requires the highest standards. 'It must be ambitious in menu, meticulous in setting, and it must offer top-notch service,' she said. 'This year’s choice achieves all of these goals.'"

In a video interview published to YouTube on Monday, Zharko Palushaj, operating partner of Tre Monti, said that the strength of the "white-linen place" on Big Beaver Road can be chalked up in part due to its staff.

"They really dedicate themselves to the industry of service," Palushaj said. "I think that white-linen service is dying a lot, and I think the reason it's dying is because of the service."

• For more from the Restaurant of the Year issue, check out Patch or visit your favorite newsstands, where it is on sale now.

What did you think?

Websites like Yelp! have empowered the everyday eater to become their local neighborhood's food critic, praising and damning behind the anonymity of a computer screen.

Some peeved restaurateurs have argued Yelp! is little more than a "forum for the uninformed," a digitally-savvy clan of unsophisticated palates with little-to-no culinary education. True or not, the reviews listed on the website unquestionably impact popular perception. 

So, how does Tre Monti stack up to the everyday eater at the moment? Here are some recent ratings and reviews from Yelp! users:

• Mario P. in Orion Township: Overall, a very good place to go and relax with a nice glass of wine and great food. (*****)
• Arben G. in Utica: Don't expect to order traditional Cesar salad or tiramisu .Most of every thing is nontraditional and that makes this place more interesting than any other and that is very good .Attentive wait staff , great food A spectacular menu from pasta to fish and don't forget ambiance and decor are very appealing (*****)
• Fern X. in Centerline: This is really painful for me to type because I am a huge fan of fine dining.  The place is beautiful but the service is very slow.  Perhaps this is customary in fine dining but I don't remember spending 2 and 1/2 hours eating dinner at Coach Insignia or any other local fine dining establishment.  The waiter was never around when we needed something.  I could barely get another glass of wine! (**)

Everybody's a critic sometimes, right? So, did Hour Detroit get it right about Tre Monti? Channel your inner foodie and tell us in the comments.

Taste of Troy 2013 is this Sunday! You can try samplers from more than 30 area restaurants and help out the Boys and Girls Club at the same time. For more information including how to purchase tickets, check out Patch.