Crescendo Exquisite Food & Fine Wines

The food is good, but it wasn’t worth the insult to match. I had Filet Mignon for $ 34. It was made as I ordered. The atmosphere was nice, but an odd comment from our waitress about their sister bar/​grill being open kinda ruined it. Were we not supposed to be in the main room? We were dressed just fine, unless they were expecting business attire, which would have been lost on the others there too. We’re clean cut and presentable. I hate to be a suspicious person and I usually ignore staring and questionable remarks, but as a rare mixed couple (White and Asian) in town, it’s the kind of comment that makes you go «hmmm». Do they suggest everyone else go to their more casual bar/​grill? Why?

Amazing. It is rare to find a nice restaurant that you leave and say I would pay more for that. Pricey but definitely worth it! We drove in from out of town and we plan to do it again soon!
Best meal we have ever had at a restaurant! If this restaurant set the bar for 5 stars, most restaurants would be 3 to 4 stars tops.

This place is a gem. It’s open only a few nights a week, and run by a multi-​talented guy — he’s the chef and, when his work is done, also the piano player. The menu is limited but intriguing, and changes seasonally. Outstanding dishes (in September) included the sweet potato ravioli appetizer, the pork, and the lobster. As my 10 year old (who ate a bit of everything) put it, «they use exactly the right amount of spice.» It’s located in a bit of a culinary wasteland. The waiter started off his explanation of the menu by describing the food as «gourmet,» which I assume reflects the fact that he is not infrequently bombarded by requests for cheeseburgers.

I was very impressed! Our food was superb. We really enjoyed the crab cakes. Service was great as well!

Amazing service!!! Wonderful menu that changes seasonally and offers a variety of unique culinary dishes. Wish they were open more evenings during the week… I know it would be full!

I am very impressed. I grew up in Albert Lea, and still have family in town, but hadn’t been here despite hearing only good things for years. I guess I figured my family was so pumped to have one good place to eat that they were inflating their reviews.
Nope, the food and service were exceptionally good. You could plunk this place into some of the coolest neighborhoods in the biggest cities and it would flourish. I had our server pick my meal from appetizer to dessert, and she nailed it. The sweet potato ravioli was possibly life changing… we’ll see if the change sticks.
I might drive some of my foodie friends 2 hours to eat here. If you live closer than that, definitely go.

Crescendo is an amazing gem in the middle of Albert Lea. The minute you enter the door you feel like you’ve walked into a sophisticated, but very comfortable place. The menu is tremendous, the service is outstanding and the wine list is as good as you can find in southern Minnesota. The music starts later in the evening and adds a tremendous atmosphere after a great dinner.
We can’t recommend this place enough for a truly wonderful evening of fine food, wine and music.

What an incredible find in this small community of Albert Lea. Five of us dined here tonight and we were all pleasantly surprised. The décor, service and food were as good as any place we’ve eaten in the USA. Two had the duck, one the famous filet, one the salmon pasta dish and other light eater had a couple appetizers. We all finished everything on our plates. Truly a great restaurAnt and very reasonably priced.

A great find in a small town!!! My friend and I shared the crab cakes. They were soooo wonderful. I actually had two of the appetizers for dinner. I had the roasted beet and goat cheese salad. It was good. I also had the sweet potato ravioli with browned butter and walnuts-​it was too die for! My friend had the filet mignon. She said it was one of the best she’d had. We shared the chocolate lava cake-​yummy! I would definitely recommend this place. I don’t live in the area or I’d be back often!!! The servers were attentive and friendly.

Amazing place! I can’t believe Unilocal doesn’t have more reviews. Fine dining European style in that your meal is not rushed. I love that leisurely stroll through courses starting with bread and oil, appetizers, meal, then dessert. Nothing irritates me more than to have meals brought out too fast. If we are going to pay for an exquisite meal and experience, let us please take our time, and this place has it down to an art. If you have never dined Euro style take a deep breathe, relax, you aren’t going to starve between courses, but you are going to get to enjoy fine spirits, fine food, great service, and hopefully great dining partner (s).
We started with the crab cakes. While excellent if there was to be a critique, and however faint, I would have preferred fresh lump crab, but I can certainly forgive here as the aioli sauce and overall flavor was terrific. The bread served had the texture and flavor of my homemade ancient Alaskan sourdough starter.
I had the New Zealand rack of lamb. The root vegetables served with it were beyond sublime. It comes medium rare. On the occasion I do have meat, next time I will most likely go ahead and request rare, but I’m a weird vegetarian that way.
Hubby had the filet mignon. He was gracious enough to share a bite. Ooh lah lah! Fork tender, melt in your mouth with some sort of sauce with a hint of mustard. While I am lamb kinda girl I just may have to order this the next time.
The wine and liquor list is great. I had a nice Shiraz and, also, hubby’s cab sav, as he ordered that, and did not realize they offered Dalwhinnie Scotch and ordered that on the rocks, after he had already received his wine. We were impressed, as Scotch aficionados, you are lucky to get Glenlivet at a restaurant. For dessert I had a moscato and he had a nice port. To get a port for dessert is tres chic.
The desserts! May I wax poetic at the crème brûlée with a hint of Gran Marnier?! The custard was smooth and cool. No toughness detected at all, which can be a problem with crème brûlée. Hubby had the cheesecake made with Bailey’s Irish Cream and shared a bite. I loved that pop of Baileys with just a hint of sea salt to balance the sweetness.
The décor is lovely and the art work very nice. Loved the black tin ceilings and the baby grand piano, which was automatically playing lite jazz. Music was great but would have been perfect to have had Gipsy Kings playing.
The service was outstanding. Glen, the maître d, had a huge smile, and assisted our server, Saundra, as needed. Both very nice and perfectly accommodating.
Well worth the money. A jewel of a place. Well worth the 100 mile one way drive.

Let me say if I could give this place 10 stars I would — Kudos to chef Tewes… this has been quite possibly my most enjoyable dining experience of my life as the stars alligned and everything worked in harmony that evening…
My friend and I first heard of this from the Chef who was teaching a community cooking class that we signed up for and we enjoyed him and his personality so dang much that we decided to road trip it on down 90 minutes from home with another friend and all our husbands… So we all loaded up in a Ford Expedition all 6 of us with a driver that doesn’t participate in our drinking festivities so we were all set and solid for the night…
It is a small intimate warm dining place with wonderful large round tables so that the entire dinner party can visit and see each other comfortably. It is a very classy place with white tables cloths and candles… so an excellent choice for a date as he does have other smaller tables for different sized groups…
The menu is seasonal which is awesome because that is how you should cook — everything at it’s peak…
I had the filet of course — Some people had the fish-​I can say that every last bite of every plate was devoured and like every good chef he left us hankering for more of that delicious sauce… why oh why do they put just enough but no excess – probably to keep it classy as I would want to lick my plate!!!
They tend to serve you in leisurely courses so you have plenty of time to eat, visit, and enjoy… He is actually back in the kitchen working his tail off but everything is fresh and fixed right then…
We had all his dessert choices and coffee and at the end after he was done cleaning up the kitchen he comes out and visits and treats you to a wonderful song or two at the piano which he is also extremely talented at—
Oh a fine evening was had by all and I cannot say enough about it.

I arranged a surprise birthday dinner for my wife, meeting her family here site unseen. I found that it was the only thing close to ‘fine dining’ in Albert Lea, which is the nearest thing to a ½ way meeting point for her parents and sister, so decided to give it a go.
A year later, this meal still stands out as one of the best we’ve had since moving to Mpls from Seattle in May of ’11.
What a surprise to find this trove of sophisticated and delicious foods on a car-​free downtown Albert Lea street.
Service was spectacular — personable but not intrusive, able to help guide our menu choices. We shared every dish, including one of each dessert, and there was not one low point.
I trust that it’s still functioning at this high level. As another reviewer said, this place could be in any metro area and keep pace w/​all the trendy restaurants that pop up.
Keep it up, Crescendo!

This would be a great restaurant in a metro area … The fact that it is in a town of 18 000 makes it even more special. We ate there three times last year and are anxious to return (we are seasonal). Took mpls friends there who are used to fine dining. They said this was as good as anything in the twin cities.

Absolutely fabulous.
I came with a group of friends from my old job, for a ladies night out, and this was the perfect place. Everything was perfect. The service was outstanding.
I had the filet mignon, and that meal still causes my mouth to water when I think about it. It’s rare that I ever clean my plate when I go out to eat, but I just couldn’t stop myself, and still managed to have dessert, which was also wonderful.

This restaurant is a wonderful find in a small town. It only serves dinner Thursday through Saturday nights, but well worth the limited availability. The menu is limited, but the food is spectacular. Have eaten here half a dozen times over the past couple of years and have never been disappointed. I’m not a wine drinker, but the selection seems very good.
The crab cakes are excellent as an appetizer. The meat dishes I have had have all been very, very good. The seared tuna is much better than one would expect in a town of 18,000 people and 1,500 miles from a coast.
You won’t be disappointed and it is worth a drive. Call for a reservation because the dining room is not huge.