OVERALL: 3 1/2 stars
SERVICE: 3 stars
AMBIENCE: 3 stars
FOOD: 3 1/2 stars
VALUE 3 1/2 stars

I had low expectations and little hope as I pulled into the parking lot and spotted Ross, the discount store where I buy my socks.

I headed for the front door of Tre (rhymes with pray), expecting to encounter men who wear too much cologne and women atop 5-inch heels pretending to be models.

I was wrong. Not about the cologne or the heels. I was wrong about the food.

I never expected to eat this well at a place with bouncers.

Tre may be a nightclub with a tequila bar, a cigar patio and a dance floor the size of a basketball court with 13 disco balls. Tre may be a magnet for the young and the hip and the scantily clad. Tre may even be a place to hook up (though that's beyond the scope of this review).

But can Tre be a restaurant that fine- dining aficionados will take seriously?

Surprise.

The food is wonderful and impressively refined, more Biba than Buca di Beppo (which is across the street).

I wasn't prepared to like this place. I sized up the many dishes. I sniffed. I poked. I chewed. I mulled.

I surrendered.

The menu is all over the place, but in a way I enjoyed. Creative, consistent, serious, playful, well-organized. Asian, Cajun, Southern, Italian. From gourmet corn dogs and cotton candy to herb-crusted lamb tenderloin and duck confit ravioli. Even the bread was different – biscuit-sized cornbread (and warm), not the same old sourdough.

The prices are reasonable, the value high and several entrees have a larger option that's meant to be shared. There are also a number of choices for vegetarians.

The compact and thoughtful wine list divides reds and whites into Southern and Northern hemispheres, with prices ranging from $28 to $48. All selections are available by the glass.

I was surprised to see so many nice bottles of single malt Scotch, including Macallan, Glenlivet and an old favorite, Lagavulin, from my days in the Deep South, when I would pour a glass, sit on the front porch with my golden retriever and a book and enjoy a thunderstorm.

When I entered Tre, a large building on Howe Avenue in the Arden area, I encountered hosts who get the blue ribbon for "best in town." In a city with lots of competition, in an economy where people think twice about what they spend and where, first impressions are crucial.

On our first visit, the friendly host gave us a tour of the entire restaurant because we didn't know where we wanted to sit. The second time, a different woman smiled and told us a member of our party was already sitting at the bar. She led us to our table, then said: "I'll go track him down."

Both times, the extra effort made us feel appreciated.

On my brief tour of Tre, I couldn't help but notice the vastness of the place and the effort to create an ambience that says, "No, we're not that giant, stucco-all-over El Torito that used to be here."

The menu and the concept behind Tre are the work of the Haines brothers (Matt and Fred), who run three Bistro 33 restaurants and the 33rd Street Bistro. Tre has something to do with all those threes, but don't ask me – or the Haines brothers – to explain it.

The head chef is Charlie Harrison, 38, who grew up in New Orleans and has been in the restaurant business since he was 14. Harrison has worked in several area kitchens, including Piatti, where he toiled alongside an unknown cook named Patrick Mulvaney, who now presides over the stellar midtown restaurant Mulvaney's Building & Loan.

Tre's kitchen is large enough to offer one of the more entertaining dining options for food buffs – a table for eight right in the thick of things.

For $35 each, diners sit in the kitchen and enjoy five small courses, usually dishes prepared on the spur of the moment.

"We definitely get very playful," Harrison told me over the phone when I asked about the cooking choices. "We have so many people who are interested in it. They ask questions, and it's fun for us."