RenCen's Coach Insignia to close; Tre Monti shuttered

After 13 years towering over downtown Detroit atop the Renaissance Center, fine-dining mainstay Coach Insignia is set to serve its last meal to the public February 18th, an apparent victim of the city's competitive real estate market.

►UPDATE: 'World-class' restaurant to replace Coach Insignia

Epicurean Group President Eric Djordjevic confirmed the impending closure of his restaurant group's crown jewel late Monday, citing the expiration of the lease at the end of the month and a stalemate in negotiations with the landlord, General Motors.

"We would’ve certainly welcomed the opportunity to renegotiate a new term," Djordjevic said. "Unfortunately, I think at this time Coach Insignia was not the brand that they envisioned using the space.”

Related:

It is unclear what the future holds for the 71st and 72nd floors of the RenCen. GM, which has owned the 40-year-old building since 1996, did not immediately return requests for comment.

Restaurateur Matt Prentice opened Coach Insignia to critical acclaim in 2004, but the spectacular 360-degree views of Detroit solidified the place as a date night and special occasion destination at a time when downtown wasn't exactly synonymous with hot dining options.

(Prentice sold his restaurant group in 2009 amid financial troubles and exited the company in 2012, when it was rebranded as Epicurean Group.)

The restaurant's original lease was for a 10-year term, Djordjevic said, but it was extended for an additional three years in 2014.

“We started talking about this a couple years ago, that this date was coming," he said. "With that there were hopes for an opportunity to extend or at least renegotiate and we were all hopeful and optimistic.

“We just made the decision that we couldn’t wait for ... something to come together in the last hours and be at risk of violating our lease agreement, which terminates February 28. We got to that critical point to close up shop, clean up and leave the restaurant in a condition of moral integrity. We have to back into that date.”

Related:

Luckily, none of the restaurant's 60-some employees will be out of a job if they choose to continue working for Epicurean, Djordjevic said.

The hospitality group is the food partner at the forthcoming Best Western Premier hotel in Southfield and is just a month or two out from opening that property's Nomad Grill restaurant. Djordjevic said he delayed opening the new restaurant until Coach Insignia's fate was certain.

"I wouldn’t have been able to sleep knowing that I hired a brand new staff and here a team that’s been with us for 14 years is now out of work," he said.

Meanwhile, the staff of Tre Monti restaurant in Troy might not have been so lucky.

The restaurant owned by the San Marino Club closed quietly in mid-January after months of unrest.

The trouble began in earnest after the departure of longtime general manager Zharko Palushaj in October.

Last spring, Palushaj hired 23-year-old chef Benedetto Palazzolo to lead the restaurant's kitchen, but the move to incorporate Asian ingredients and modernist techniques into a traditional Italian restaurant -- complete with a headlining dessert ripped straight from Chicago's three-Michelin-starred Alinea -- was not particularly well-received.

"Tre Monti will be closed for remodeling and restructuring," the restaurant's website now reads. "Please stay tuned for our upcoming changes."

As metro Detroit's red-hot dining scene continues to evolve at a rapid clip, there are sure to be more casualties.

And the pace of change isn't just affecting staunch fine-dining establishments that have struggled to adapt to the new norms, as proven by the closing of the short-lived but much lauded La Rondinella in January.

To be sure, the shuttering of these high-profile restaurants has been defined by the unique business structures that governed each one of them. Perhaps none would've survived any longer in a different climate. The restaurant business has always been volatile.

But when fixtures in a community are lost in such quick succession, one can't help but wonder: Who will be next?

Contact Mark Kurlyandchik: 313-222-5026 or mkurlyandchik@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mkurlyandchik and Instagram: mkurlyandchik.