Krescendo

THIS PLACED IS CLOSED! Has been since the end of July. So if by chance you were planning to come a ways to get here, save yourself a trip or go to Sottocasa down the street, which is/​was much better anyway!

Delicious pizza, great service, friendly personnel and reasonable prices!
Love it

I always get their Finocchio Flower Power pizza — it’s so good I could eat two. It has a very unique combination of flavors and it always hits the spot!

As you can see I haven’t posted anything yet. But when Krescendo first opened my family and I had thought we had found a nice hot spot to have a casual pizza dinner at. Everything was great! The Arancini and the pizzas were fantastic! We were also granted a free dessert upon our next visit! (Due to I commenting on this strange family that had also dined at the time.)
So when you see I rated it 2 stars, you have to understand that upon my second visit the place was deserted. It was strange. Mind you during my first visit the place was jam packed. Everything was wrong. The Arancini was dry and under seasoned. The pizza was just terrible compared to our first visit. It was lukewarm and was too salty. I used to think I could recommend this place to anyone but now I can only warn them not to go here. Instead go to ‘Sottocasa’ just on the next block.

We had our wedding rehearsal dinner at Krescendo. The food was fine, but the overall experience was very unpleasant. We had communication problems from the very beginning with the event organizer, Aggie. We could never reach her by phone, and emails to her often bounced back.
During planning, I had concerns that there was no private area for the rehearsal dinner. Aggie assured us that it would be fine, she said we could have toasts, they would play whatever music we wanted, they could play a slideshow for us, etc. She told us we could have all the appetizers and pizza we needed, and wine and beer would be included with the meal. It really sounded too good to be true, for the price they were offering us.
Well, it was too good to be true. The first problem during the event is that Aggie, our only contact person during the planning process, was nowhere to be found. Then, the server was slow and reluctant to give us drink refills. After appetizers, my father in law wanted to give a toast… I asked the server to turn the music down and she said she couldn’t, because there were other guests dining in the restaurant.
The food was VERY slow to come out, which was actually fine with us because we were enjoying our company. It only became a problem when the owner/​chef approached my husband during the middle of dinner and said the open bar had expired, as we only had open bar for 2 hours. Two problems with this… First, we had NEVER discussed a time limit on the drinks. Second, we were still drinking after 2 hours only because the food was slow to come out. If they had served food faster, we would have been finished dinner faster, and been out of the restaurant.
It was all very stressful, awkward, and frustrating. We were over-​promised and they under-​delivered. And what’s worse, is that the event planner did not communicate with the owner or staff, and she was not present during the event. I sent an email after my event with my frustrations and never received a response. I am very disappointed in the restaurant. My rehearsal dinner should not have been stressful in this way. I will never go back to Krescendo.

Krescendo. A krime of a kuisine. I can’t hold back here. If you’re looking for gluten-​free, which they say they offer. Don’t be fooled. I absolutely hate when this happens. Especially when you’re excited to get out and experience a new place. My hopes were high, only to get deflated and then treated like crap on top of it all.
My wife and I love good pizza. So. we walked in around 6:30 on a Saturday night, thinking it would be packed, but to our surprise, we were alone with only the staff. Soon, we would understand why. Only moments there, a crazy woman at the pizza oven was running about frantically and arguing with a waitress. I thought this was rude. We sat ourselves down and soon, the discombobulated waitress came over to greet us. We asked about the gluten-​free pizza and she said that she would ask if they had it tonight. We were a bit puzzled. When she returned about 10 minutes later, she said that they couldn’t do it. When we asked why, she just stared at us in confusion. We thought she might even break down and cry. So we told her not to worry and asked if there was anything else that we could eat that would fall under the gluten-​free category and again, she ran off to find out, but in the middle of my request. At this point, another table came in and before she would come back to us, she greeted and took a drink order from them. WE haven’t even ordered a drink for ourselves… wtf!
We quickly got up and proceeded to the exit. As we turned back before we left, we made eye contact with the waitress, but nothing… Just a blank stare. We turned and walked out. We found another brick oven restaurant only 2 blocks away — «Sottocasa», which was amazing on all cylinders and made our night. And it made Krescendo look like a krippled kase soon to kollapse! Awful experience. Don’t go there unless you’re looking for bad comedy. Sottocasa’s a 5 minute walk away and well worth it.

Heard about their award winning pizza while on the plane to NY, so it made to our trip’s plan. Me and my girlfriend came 3o min before closing on Saturday night (June 7^th) expecting that with no reservations the place would be full and we’d have to take out.
To our surprise, the place looked almost empty with only a few tables busy, and so we thought they’ll probably be soon closing. Not only were we very warmly welcomed but the food and service was also beyond expectation!
The pizza? Simply brilliant!!! Excellent chewy dough with full of flavor toppings (tried the Finocchio Flower Power and Margherita)! also tried the meatballs: Hearty, full of flavor with a delicious sause! The string beans? Delightfull!
And the service warm, welcoming and just attentive as it should be!
I definitely recommend Krescendo for anyone that wants to enjoy fantastic flavorfull pizza in a warm welcoming environment (and not having to travel to Italy)

THE ABSOLUTE WORST.
If you are going to go here and expect to be able to order and receive a gluten free pizza go elsewhere. We have gone TWICE, the second time calling before to check if they did indeed have gluten free and were told YES they DID, and both times were told (upon trying to order) SORRY we don’t actually have gluten free pizza.
Liars and a bullshit operation.

Great restaurant for a group dinner. They take reservations and the food and service are good. Is this the greatest pizza of all time? No. But it’s definitely above average. Unfortunately for them there is some stiff competition in the area.
I’m surprised by so many negative comments about Krescendo’s service. I found them to be very nice despite my large party calling twice to delay the reservation and still showing up a little late. The restaurant is family friendly and they made up for some delays in our orders by offering free appetizers and occasional treats for the kids.

Despite having decent food, the people at Krescendo make it almost impossible to ever want to return to their restaurant. The service is abysmal and it takes them over 40 minutes to bring out their bland and overpriced food.
Look at every review… they all sound the same and yet the place does not do anything to improve their service or the details that make restaurants successful. Sad because they are the only restaurant on the big block of Atlantic between Hoyt and Bond and in theory could do very well in this neighborhood.

Oh Krescendo, how I so wish I could love you. Unfortunately, every time I have come there is always a problem. I used to let it slide because they were new and could look past poor service, losing my order, kitchen running out of pizza, apps etc. Well, they’re no longer that new and they’re still screwing things up regularly.
As far as food– their pizza is actually pretty good– acceptable char, decent chew, fresh ingredients. Their placement of ingredients is so inconsistent with some pizzas having a nice ratio of mozzarella and sauce and others with half the pizza without a single ball of mozz! As far as pizza ovens go, I am in love with their sparkly, tile-​covered wood-​fired oven!!! Apps: burrata is veryyy good– fresh and creamy! The arancini always seem to be way overcooked/​semi burnt each time I’ve ordered them (although I do love that they’re served pesto).
The restaurant itself is spacious, food is decent but it shocks me how many times they can lose my order. Seeing as I live so close, I’m sure I’ll eat here again I just hope they get their act together.

Bad experience. I got a gift certificate to eat here and went with my husband for dinner. The problem was, we got there and the kitchen was closed. Their website had misinformation stating they were open later than they actually were. They explained that the website was incorrect and apologized.
We came back another time to use the certificate and they wouldn’t honor it because it had expired a few days before. We have eaten there twice with mixed results. The dismissive nature in which things were dealt with outweigh everything else they do. I’m sure if I had had hissy fit they may have honored it, but that’s not my style. They lost what could have been constant neighborhood business.

They are new, so hopefully they will find their way, but they are a ways off. The beer/​wine is great, but the food is cheap tasting, while not cheap. The crust is good, but that is about it. If I were you I would head west down Atlantic where you will find a much more legitimate adventure in Italian dough.
Almost forgot the music — it is loud and bad with extra speakers in the bathroom that should have been placed in the front of house instead of blasting from the back. Bottom line, sit up front if possible.

Reduce the drama, to get it together.
Seriously, Krescendo Owners (KOs), I mean well. I stuck by you and my initial 5 star rating, despite all the naysayer reviewers, many of whom I could tell from my years at Unilocal were fake and had an axe to grind. I had eaten your food, twice, and had experienced good service on each of my visits and thus had no doubts as to your virtues. Then, I noticed complaints on service (not food) from Unilocalers who I know are real, and who write real reviews. That bothered me. But, as my own experiences had been good, I kept recommending you to friends who also found your food and drinks, excellent.
I stuck to my convictions even after Falkner left after an obvious fall-​out. Frankly, I couldn’t care less about celebrity chefs, as long as the food was good. But, you need a celebrity chef, KOs, as your location will not bring foot traffic. You need buzz to make you destination dining.
Me, personally, I thought you were still good enough to merit 4 stars at least, and so I didn’t waver. But, then friends kept telling me about half full restaurants on Friday nights, and poor service — and, I worried for your survival. But, when I got news that your new chef, Moorman, had left within 45 days, I feared for the worst.
I ate again today in the restaurant, when there were only 14 – 18 people other than me between 8 and 9 pm. If I were being generous, I’d say that the restaurant were a third full. The bartender let me know that the cook hadn’t showed up today, and so there were no pastas or the calamari salad or Burrata. However, I could still order pizzas. I ordered my usual drink, Rosa Nera (black pepper, rosemary, and vodka) which was quite good. The Smoked Mozza pizza was very good (4 stars), and the highlight was still the Tartufo, also 4 stars (less caramel sauce resulting in 1 star less). The service was prompt, my pizza arrived in less than 5 minutes. However, I noticed that it was too prompt for the other gentleman at the bar who got his pizza a few minutes before being served his salad. Now, I know these are two different departments and different employees (Pizzaiolo and Kitchen assistants), but there are less than 15 diners in the restaurant, folks… please get it together.
Yes, you need to hire a new chef. Yes, the staff needs to coordinate service better. But, take the time to get it right, KOs. I love New York because it can even give the wieners and spritzers another chance for personal failings. But, it’s not as unforgiving to what it perceives as lack of professionalism. We find inconsistency Tiresome, KOs. We like our drama on Broadway. We want to see our successful businesses earn our grudging respect. We don’t hand it out on a platter. We love an underdog that fights for our affection and succeeds or goes down fighting. We like a fighter with heart and don’t want to see a TKO.

Well, it wasn’t terrible. But it was certainly disappointing. That’s the kindest thing I can say about Krescendo. The food was meh, the service bad, and the place understandably empty. Should you want the celebrity chef experience despite my warnings, I would advise checking this place out post haste, as I suspect it will go down in flames within its first year.
I had dinner here with a friend before a Dar Williams concert. We had the garlic knots with black garlic tapenade and a kale salad to start and she had a pizza while I got what was ostensibly pappardelle bolognese.
The garlic knots were greasy and heavy, and the pastries themselves weren’t actually garlicky at all. Based on the menu and what the waitress said, we thought the pastries had regular garlic in addition to the black garlic in the tapenade, but that wasn’t the case. The black garlic tapenade had an odd, overly sweet raisin flavor. (Yes, I know what black garlic tastes like. No, it doesn’t generally taste like that.) The salad wasn’t particularly good either. I’m not a huge kale fan, but the real issue was the dressing, which was overpoweringly lemony. Like tastes the way Pledge smells overpoweringly lemony.
As for the entrees, my friend’s pizza had hot peppers on it, so I didn’t touch it. They had not removed the seeds of the peppers, so some of them were quite a bit hotter than she thought they were supposed to be. I don’t do peppers of any description, so I had to take her word for it. The pappardelle wasn’t actually pappardelle. The noodles were far too thick, much thicker than, say, lasagna noodles. To their credit, it was done perfectly. (Which is one thing I miss terribly about New York.) The sauce was good, but not great.
The menu claimed they had Boylan’s ginger ale. I like Boylan’s ginger ale. What arrived was some other brand of ginger beer. I do not like ginger beer. The waitress assumed I thought the ginger beer was beer and assured me it wasn’t alcoholic. (Seriously?) When I explained I knew it was soda, but had ordered ginger ale, she asserted it was the same thing as ginger ale and was very difficult about taking it back. The bottled sodas were also not cold, so pouring them over ice resulted in flat soda. They don’t have iced tea. They don’t have club soda, only $ 6 Pellegrino. My friend was driving, so we weren’t drinking. I gave up and drank water, which they only serve in six ounce glasses, which they don’t refill regularly. Presumably to force you to pay for flat soda.
They were also very slow to bring the check, very slow to run our cards, useless at describing dishes, and pushy about how we should try the tripe.

I’m often skeptical of any celebrity chef spot, and this is no exception. Unlike several other spots of the breed, Elizabeth Falkner has been in the house every time we have. She is in the kitchen expediting, manning the gorgeous pizza oven, and even stepping behind the bar on one occasion.
Despite her continued presence, and as can be expected with any new venture, Krescendo can be a bit uneven. However, a few flashes of brilliance and a staff that is truly trying to please tells me that this is a new spot I’m going to be glad to have in the ‘hood.
Our first time through the door was immediately after they had opened to the public, and it showed. By the time we were seated and were ready to order, the kitchen had ran out of pizza dough. I imagine that was a bit embarrassing, but the staff handled the unfortunate situation with grace, offering complimentary cocktails as amends, and directing us toward the pastas for something more substantial than our appetizers. Obviously this was a disappointment, but only an insensitive clown dings a place for such things in their first week of business.* Also, free booze always goes a long way toward smoothing things over.
In terms of the menu, there have been a number of items I will gladly return for. The chickpea fritters (that were actually taken off the menu on our last visit) were fantastic, and properly blew the mind of my date who was unenthused about the order. The kale salad has been OK and excellent, depending on the night, and the pasta is solid as well.
However, you’re there for the pizza, and the pies are solid. The crust can usually compete with the other excellent pies in the neighborhood, and the combinations are interesting and well-​executed. My personal favorite is the fennel-​happy award winner atop of the list, and the Californication with its arugula and proscuitto combination won over our friends as well. We have received a clam pie that was almost inedibly salty, but no one is perfect.
Dessert, as can be expected from a pastry chef, is excellent.
Service issues aside, I think once they settle on a menu they can consistently execute well, this is going to be a nice option for me. Also, the olives they start you off with are AMAZING.
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*Yes, I’m talking to some of the other reviewers around here.

Falkner was robbed again this season, she should be the Next Iron Chef.
Lucky for us though, now that she didn’t win, she has plenty of time to be on site and cooking at her new pizza joint in Brooklyn.
I’m a little baffled at how low all of these reviews are. Ok, I’ll admit that it isn’t the best pizza and there are a number of places in Brooklyn alone that serve up better pies, but it’s still pretty good, and most everything else here is just as good, if not better than most of the other big name places.
Aside from the friendly personal greeting and short, slightly awkward conversation with Chef Falkner herself at the end of our visit, the best part of our meal was probably the appetizers. The Black Garlic Knots ($ 9) were not only some of the best garlic knots I’ve had, but this dish was also one of the most satisfying starters I’ve ever had at one of these more upscale pizza places. They give you five very generously sized pieces on top of a thick black garlic tapenade which is a strange but very good accompaniment. The knots themselves are so perfectly cooked: piping hot and nice and crunchy on the outside, yet fluffy and soft on the inside.
We also got the Polpette al Forno ($ 9). These were some seriously good meatballs. They were nice and dense with a really good, strong pork sausage flavor, and the tomato sauce was so good we had to soak it all up with the rest of our garlic knots.
Now on to the pizzas: we got the supposed award-​winning Finnochio Flower Power ($ 16) and The Cure ($ 15). I thought they were both very solid and satisfying pizzas. The former comes with no sauce and a whole lot of fennel and some delicious sausage. It was very different from most pizzas I’ve had, but in a very good way. The latter, The Cure, is a more traditional one with mozzarella, tomato sauce and spicy salami. The interesting thing about this one is that the salami topping is tucked under the cheese instead of a normal topping on the surface of the pizza. I thought this worked really well and it helped distribute the salami more evenly throughout every slice.
The service throughout the meal was perfect — very attentive waiters without being overbearing and quick and responsive to all of our inquiries. It’s a great atmosphere inside too, though sadly not quite as crowded as you would hope a good restaurant to be on a Saturday night.
Finally, knowing that Falkner has serious skills as a pastry chef, I figured we had to get dessert so we ended with the Tartufo ($ 9). As with everything else we tried, she put her own unique spin on this as well — instead of ice cream, it included a gianduja semifreddo, which tasted kind of like if mousse and ice cream had a baby. The chocolate crumbles and toasted hazelnuts along with the caramel sauce paired with the semifreddo made for an amazing bite and a perfect end to an extremely satisfying meal.
I hope people catch on and give this place the fair shot it deserves, because it would be a shame to see the extremely talented and gracious Chef Falkner screwed over again this year.

Of course I was excited to check out Krescendo because of the whole Chef Faulkner thing. Not only was she in the kitchen the night we were there, but she must have been working hard to make sure that something was done right to rectify all of these negative experiences I’m reading about below.
Our waiter was a bit too quiet and unenthusiastic for my tastes, but he did put some effort into helping us choose what we ordered. We started with the kale salad, which had a couple of pieces of fried kale in the mix along with maple candied pancetta. Awesome. We weren’t wowed by the meatball appetizer — the balls were moist but otherwise uninteresting.
But then the pizza arrived and all was good in the pizza world (on Atlantic Avenue, at least). We ordered the Finocchio Flower Power, an award winning pizza which was so interesting and unique. I’ve truly never had a pizza like it, and I’ve had a lot of pizzas. The fennel came through very strong but not in an overwhelming way. And the cheeses! And sausage! All amazing.
We also ordered the Californication. Addictive is the best way to describe this one — I don’t love the idea of pesto on pizza, but there wasn’t too much of it. The sweetness from the honey was a nice touch, and I loved the traditional aspect of the mozzarella. I was concerned this pizza wouldn’t be so great because of how odd the combination of ingredients sounded, but I loved it. Definitely a good boozy late-​night pizza.
Next was dessert: tartufo. It was good, but almost too chocolate-​y. Was hoping to be totally impressed by dessert, but I guess you can’t win ‘em all. Two solid pizzas that made me want to come back for me. And I will. Go!

Going to a restaurant the opening weekend is never a good idea. Nonetheless the excitement around this spot was high due to a delayed opening
following Hurricane Sandy.
We were told a 25 minute wait by a hostess who never smiled and it turned out to be over an hour as we observed mostly empty tables. Luckily I enjoyed a delicious bourbon cocktail served by a friendly bartender.
The kale salad looked better than it tasted, cost more than it should and didn’t need the eggs. The arancini were blah and a far cry from a traditional rice ball. My «award winning» finnochio pie was missing zucchini flowers and the California pie was overly spiced. Otherwise the pizza dough and crust were light fluffy and tasty.
Service was slow and everyone seemed confused. I hope they work out their kinks!

I had dinner with friends because one friend wanted to try the place. I sat at the bar waiting for my friends to arrive. While I waited the bartender Moses recommended a really nice wine and made a great traditional whiskey sour. The place is nice and has a nice vibe to it.
When my friends arrived we were seated for dinner. We tried the Riceballs, Meatball Pizza, the Californication pizza and squash filled tortellini.
The riceballs were great they were cheesy and had onions in it and were served with a pesto sauce. The tortellini tasted great the squash was sweet and the pasta firm.
The pizza on the other hand left a lot to be desired. The toppings were good on the meatball pizza, the cheese was tasty and the meat sauce was good. But the crust was soggy in the middle and burnt at the edges. So much so that it interfered with the taste of the pizza, so I ended up cutting off the burnt edges so I can eat it. The crust of the other pizza was burnt as well. I guess thinking about it now I should have sent it back.
The crust is an important part of the pizza, and I guess they’re not good at baking it. If I go back I’ll stick to appetizers, pasta and drinks.