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Most who venture to Waltham are there to visit a Brandeis student, but it appears the neighborhood is doing much to keep the business students long after they’ve crossed the stage with their diplomas.
Last week a group of Boston Bloggers met up for a dinner at Tempo Bistro (474 Moody St). The modern meets classic restaurant boats and all gluten free menu – meaning everything on the menu is gluten free or can be made gluten free. They are also very attentive to any other dietary restrictions within reason. In keeping in trend, they source much of their produce from local farms, and visit the farms daily to keep the menu and items as fresh as possible in their scratch kitchen. And, they haven’t forgotten about their college students either as they provide late night eating options available from 11pm – 1am with an assortment of breakfast sandwiches.
Creativity in this place abounds, and it shines even in the drink menu. I started out with the Local Farm Berry Lemonade (Citrus Vodka, Muddled Berries, Fresh Housemade Lemondade) which changes daily based on the berries that available at the farms they locally source. On that day, the lemonade had strawberries and raspberries and a bit of mint. It wasn’t overly sweet and tasted like it was fresh from the garden!
Local Farm Berry Lemonade
Another popular drink at the table was the Tap the Maple (Bourbon, Muddle Blueberry and Lemon, DRINKmaple, Simple Syrup, DRINKmaple Pure Maple Water Cubes). The presentation was fun with ice cube blueberries, but don’t let the flirty exterior fool you, the bourbon comes with a kick!
Tap the Maple
One of the highlights of the meal for me had to be their standard non-gluten free bread. It came to the table hot from the oven, with cheese baked right in and was appetizingly plated on a board that had a holder for the red pepper cream cheese spread that has just a hint of cayanne pepper in it. Now that – is a party in your mouth . I also tried the gluten free bread, but it tasted pretty much like air.
House Bread
Gluten Free Bread
For the appetizers we began with the Roasted Brussel Sprouts. The typically come with bacon, but as a vegetarian, I tried them without the bacon and determined that you should get them with the bacon – lol). Fresh East Coast Oysters were brought to the table, and we also had the Truffle Shoe String Fries, which will get you into trouble. They are crispy crunchy goodness with just a hint of Parmesan cheese. I usually don’t add anything to a good truffle fry but for their garlic aioli sauce, I will make an exception. I also appreciated how they paid attention to detail in the presentation by placing the fries in a generously sized cute steel basket. For the meat eaters the must have are the Philly Steak and Cheese Spring Rolls.
Fried Brussel Sprouts and Smoked Bacon
Local East Coast Oysters
Shoestring Truffle Fries
Philly Steak and Cheese Spring Rolls
The star of the appetizers had to be the Spiced Honey Glazed Sweet Potato “Bravas” that come with an avocado cilantro dipping sauce, feta and spicy honey glaze. Those are not your mama’s sweet potatoes! There was just enough heat to balance out the sweetness of the honey and the coolness of the avocado. The chef went out on a limb with this one, and it really paid off.
Another great entree or addition to a meal is a salad. The kitchen brought over Jimmy’s Beet Salad (Wilson’s Farm Baby Arugula, Warm Herb Goat Cheese, Roasted Pecans, Aged Balsamic Vinaigrette) and the succulent Watermelon and Feta Salad (Baby Arugula, Compressed Cukes, Vine Ripe Tomatoes, Pomegranate Balsamic Drizzle) which was my favorite of the two. The compressed cukes are actually compressed square watermelon that create an intense juicy bite and the salad has a smoked sesame flavor that gave it an Asian twist.
Jimmy’s Beet Salad
Watermelon and Feta Salad
About this time it was time for the main course. The show stopper of the evening was the Grilled All Natural Double Thick Pork Chop that comes with Five Cheese Mac N’ Cheese, Grilled Asparagus, Caramelized Onions, Apple Cranberry Reduction. I choose to get my plate sans the pork, and found my favorite part of the plate to be the grilled asparagus. It it was steamed and grilled to perfection, though I could have done without the cranberries. For the five mac n’ cheese, I wished that there was some salt on the table, but there was none. Of those at our table who had the pork chop, everyone was taking the large portion home.
Mac and Cheese with Asparagus
Grilled Double Thick Pork Chop
For dessert, we got a wonderful assortment of fruity creations. The favorite of the table was the what we deemed as the honey sundae – that had plenty of seasonal fruit with fresh ice cream and a custard underneath. They had so many fruity choices that you almost started to think you weren’t really eating dessert.
Tempo has some great choices for dining and the chef is always thinking of new ways to craft fresh ingredients, so you could go time after time and have a different dining experience with each visit.
Disclaimer: This meal was provided to me free of charge. All of my thoughts and opinions are my own.