Frederick C.
Yelp
I love what Tamper is doing. Located on Tuft's backdoor, they are a welcome nod to the better angels of millennial taste. The place has a great energy when you walk in the door. The staff is friendly, the diners typically engaged and 'awake'...while the food quality vacillates from excellent to mundane. To be clear, all of the ingredients are top notch, and the preps and ideology, fun. Where they fall shy of perfection is in preparation. A soft scrambled egg will consistently come out, well, just like any over-cooked egg in any diner...marbles of dulled egg. Being able to consistently cook to temp is important, and with an egg, you know immediately if you've botched it. Cooking another is no more than a 30 second endeavor on a hot griddle.
On another note, sometimes perfection is the enemy of good or complete. Tamper previously offered almond milk, but no longer does. They made their own almond milk from the best possible (expensive and organic) almonds to attain almond milk perfection. Of course, I imagine no one is coming in and ordering a fine glass of almond milk. It's almost invariably a dairy substitute topping off a coffee concoction. People order soy or almond milk for health considerations, not because they're dying to have a glass of either. Though neither is bad for you, their health attributes are quite different. See the end of this bit for a small paragraph on how. So to not offer almond milk at all, because you want to save up to 'buy the good stuff' seems a little self indulgent, and rather unnecessary.
Lastly, (and a nod to the lack of experience on the floor) 'the bottom of the glass belongs to the house, while the top of the glass belongs to the guest.' It's an old restaurant adage. There's little more disconcerting to me, than to be given a glass of iced coffee, (beer, mead, or anything wet) accompanied by the sweetest well intentioned smile, with every possible centimeter of the glass's rim covered by a hand...so essentially, I'm drinking iced coffee and everything they've touched since last they washed.
Not to lose my way, I want to get back to the point. I like this place. I think you would like this place. However, they do have some quality issues and unpolished traits to be addressed. Nothing too difficult, just some attention here and there. Till then, order beverages served with a handle, and get off on their avocado toast.
Here's that almond/soy blurb. "Soy Milk's Hormonal Effects
Drinking soy milk can be super beneficial for people over age 50 because it helps to relieve postmenopausal symptoms in women and prevent prostate cancer in men. But it may cause certain adverse effects for those who are in their reproductive years. Though not yet confirmed, soy milk has been suspected for reducing male fertility and sperm count. Soy may interfere with progesterone production during pregnancy, and thus should be avoided if you are an expectant mother. Soy may also counteract the effects of chemo and tamoxifen therapy. Breast cancer patients are much better off drinking almond instead of soy milk during treatment and remission."
