Matter

I will always give extra credit for a concept of a spot even if it isn't executed 100% than a spot that does the same old stuff and that is what got my attention with Matter. Another healthy food/bowl spot? Yes and no. Matter is very easy to get to right out of the Broadway Lafeyette station taking the Crosby exit and walking barely a block. Seating is plentiful as a good group can sit and eat here but also some high chairs are here for more solo eating, overall I liked the spot and for a Friday afternoon at 3pm their was a good number of people here. The main hook of Matter is that you can customize your meal and drink down to the gram because they weigh everything which especially good for those that like to track their macros. So in my case, I chose the standard Mediterranean Chicken meal ($17.85) with Lemon Ginger Fresca ($3). The only customization I could do with the drink was the size of it, 3 options available, which I still appreciate as most spots only have 1 or 2 sizes and I can taste the ginger as the drink hit the spot. The meal was also very good. I wasn't sure what to make of the tahini amba as I've never had it before, but it was this creamy sauce that I really enjoyed and paired well with the roasted chicken, broccoli, sweet potato and toasted chickpeas which the latter two I quite enjoyed while the baby kale and jasmine rice were fine but not anything special. I didn't play around with the customization this time around as I was interested in the overall taste of everything, but through the app or in store it is possible to change the amount of chicken or rice or kale or anything really or choose an entirely different protein, base, veggies and garnishes and adjust those amounts as well and see how that changes the overall calorie, protein, fats, carbs, and fiber counts (and see how the overall dollar amount changes too). Its an interesting level of customization given to customers that I'm sure some orders will take longer because of it compared to say buying the standard meals which I did and the service was relatively quick. The app is fairly friendly with the ability log your meals and create meal plans though a few hiccups here and there which is fine for a still relatively new place. Overall, Matter was solid and I'm interested to go back, try some of the other meals, and work with the customization as I would like to see this place evolve the concept more and open up more spots.

I really wanted to like this spot but eating here is the quick-service restaurant equivalent of being micromanaged by Adam Neumann at WeWork in 2018. House music on the speakers, underutilized ceiling height, insufficient seating. If you happen to snag a seat, table will be wobbly. Tried to add broccoli to my order on the iPad and it wasn't allowing me. So I moved to another one, started my entire order again, added broccoli, and this time cauliflower wasn't available. GREAT! Food came out quickly but I was there at a really random time, so there wasn't a line. Refer to the photo to see that I added feta cheese to my order , and they gave me barely any. Yep I came to Matter to pay $24 to microdose on feta cheese. Jeez Food is good but not enough for the price. Still hungry.