The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
6 — Wednesday, October 26, 2022
Ann Arbor Eats brings local food to students and novelty
to an oversaturated influencer scene
Expectations
Hannah Carapellotti, Senior Arts
Editor
As a self-professed Swiftie, I can’t
believe I haven’t tried Taylor’s chai
cookies before now. I constantly see
TikTok videos of people making
them and have had the recipe
bookmarked on my phone for
several weeks, but I haven’t had a
true opportunity until today. One
thing I’m nervous about is the chai.
I’m not a big tea drinker — I don’t
understand the hype, if I’m being
honest — so I’ll be curious to see
how strongly the tea leaves will
come through in the recipe. Baking
is one of those things I do when I’m
either looking for something to do
with a friend or really in the mood to
experiment with a new recipe, and
in this case, I’ve got both of those
opportunities! I’m ready to jump
(then fall) into making these cookies.
Sabriya Imami, Managing Arts
Editor
As a self-professed amateur baker,
it seems crazy that I haven’t made
these cookies yet. I’ve been wanting
to for such a long time, but for some
reason, I just never went through
with it. I think it’s because I was so
afraid that I wouldn’t like them —
maybe the chai flavor would be too
overwhelming, or they wouldn’t be
the sugar cookie consistency I’m
used to. I just couldn’t bear the idea
of not loving Taylor Swift’s recipe …
so I just never made them. Ignorance
is bliss, right? That being said, I’m
finally ready to take this leap (and
jump head first, fearless) and make
these cookies. It’s Red (Taylor’s
Version) season (or as non-Swifties
call it, fall), so it only seems right.
The Process
SI: So, the process itself, what
happened? I feel like, considering
the fact that we made these cookies
in your apartment kitchen, with
materials that you had in your
apartment or that your roommates
were letting us use, this went about
as well as I could have expected it
to go.
HC: The way you just said that
makes it sound like this was so not
put together well; I bought the flour
and sugars that we needed!
SI: I think I was worried that
we were going to be scrambling,
especially with the chai, so I was
thinking, “Oh no, what if this doesn’t
turn out well?” But you know what,
it did! And they were very good.
HC: Yeah, one of my roommates
had a one-pound bag of chai tea that
she said I was more than welcome to
use. So that was really good because
I did not want to spend money on
a whole box of tea that I certainly
wasn’t going to drink. But the recipe
called for us to cut open a tea bag
and dump the leaves in there, and
we didn’t have that. We just had this
one-pound bag. I remember I tried
looking up, “how much is in a typical
tea bag?” and I couldn’t find a single
thing. We also spilled a bunch of
powdered sugar.
SI: It happens. That’s life. That’s
the life of a baker. Have you seen
“Bake Off?” Anyway, I feel like the
actual baking was pretty much
exactly what you’d expect from
baking. We just Taylor Swift-ified it
by listening to her music the whole
time, and while waiting for the
cookie dough to chill, obviously we
watched the Reputation Stadium
Tour, because why would we not?
I think that really enhanced our
experience. Wouldn’t you agree?
HC: I would 100% agree. And
I mean, it was a perfect excuse to
watch the Reputation Stadium Tour
again.
SI: Not that we need an excuse to
watch it again.
HC: Correct. We also burned the
bottoms of the cookies.
SI: Oh, I forgot about that. I think
it’s because there was no parchment
paper.
HC: Probably. I didn’t even think
about that! That was the one thing
we didn’t have.
SI: The bottoms looked so burnt
that I was wondering, “oh no, are
these going to taste burnt on the
bottom and raw otherwise?” But
they didn’t even taste burnt; the
consistency was right. It’s basically
just a sugar cookie recipe, and
they tasted how sugar cookies are
supposed to taste.
HC: The recipe said to bake the
cookies for, what, 10 or 12 minutes?
So we took them out and they still
looked like the balls that we’d rolled
them into.
SI : Raw. Yeah, and you almost
burned yourself.
HC: Oh my god, I did! I was
flattening them with the spatula
and almost touched the side of the
super-hot tray.
SI: So I guess that’s one thing
I’d make sure to do next time, is to
flatten them into little discs before
putting them in the oven so that you
don’t almost burn yourself.
HC: Or just take them out when
you’re supposed to take them out.
We put them back in for another,
like, five minutes because we
thought they weren’t done, and then
we flattened them and they were
fine.
SI: And they tasted very much
like fall, which I think was exactly
what we were hoping for.
HC: Yeah, I agree.
SI: And the icing really made
them look good. Very cinnamon-y,
very nutmeg-y. I could have eaten
a bowl of just that, even though
that would have been probably
disgusting because of all the
powdered sugar.
HC: No, that was me cleaning up!
We had started by just drizzling the
cookies with frosting, and then I
dipped them all instead and we had
the perfect amount for all two dozen
cookies. And then there was still a
little bit for me to scoop out and eat
on a spoon.
SI: I don’t even think there were
any big mishaps besides the bottoms
burning, and even that wasn’t that
big of a deal.
HC: Yeah, I don’t think so.
SI: I think this is absolutely
something that college kids can
replicate in their apartment kitchen.
HC: Yeah, highly recommend it.
I think it’s a Swiftie rite of passage.
SI: Agreed! And they’re really
easy. It didn’t take us that long. We
were making a TikTok at the same
time, which maybe extended our
actual prep time. But I think if you
were to just focus on the cookies,
maybe not get distracted by the
Taylor Swift songs you’re inevitably
listening to in the background,
yeah, it would only take you a few
minutes.
HC: I still have to edit that TikTok
and post it.
Results
HC: All of my roommates tried
the cookies, and they said they were
“very autumnal.” You and I didn’t
really taste the chai when we first
tried them, but my roommate, who
let us use her chai, said she could.
SI: Oh, so maybe we did it right!
Yeah, I think (the chai) added a
little bit of like, a lingering flavor
in the back, but it wasn’t as at the
forefront as I thought it would be.
Honestly, you could also make these
without the chai and just have it be
cinnamon and nutmeg icing, and it’d
be just fine.
The Instagram account Ann
Arbor Eats pulled me from my
complex distrust for food accounts
into a new city’s food scene. As I
continue to eat through Ann Arbor,
Ann Arbor Eats guides me every
step and bite of the way.
As shown by my long-defunct,
pun-ridden Instagram, I was a
pre-teen foodie. After years of
proving that every meal I ate looked
perfect, I realized I had lost some
of the joy of tasting and sharing
a meal. My cronut obsession and
table-reorganization habit were not
worth some hundred followers and
a few friends commenting empty
“yums.” I fell into a pit of shame.
Food Instagrams democratized the
exclusive world of food reviewing
and reporting. They soon came
to represent waiting in line for
overhyped
desserts,
neglecting
diverse local food for “trends” or
advertising unattainable “clean”
eating. Today, with the fear of
being “cheugy” and trying too
hard to be trendy, people aspire to
an effortless yet effortful posting
standard. “Foodie” pages thrive off
of impossible aesthetics, long lines
and yearning audiences that want
their picture-perfect food (though it
is just perfect in the picture).
In a cynical future, people think
of Instagram hype rather than
eating for the sake of eating. Yet, as
I walked into Ann Arbor hungry
for new experiences outside of the
few standard recommendations and
microwave college eats, I looked to
Ann Arbor Eats. They showed me
a diverse array of foods from every
culture, not focused on aesthetics
and cherishing the unique stories
and offerings of each vendor. Their
Instagram inspired me to explore
Ann Arbor beyond the surface.
In 2018, five years after Ann
Arbor
Eats’
last
post,
Jordy
Richman, a 2020 LSA graduate,
took over the account for an alum
cousin. At the time, the page
had around 1,000 followers and
nothing distinguishing it from
the oversaturated world of food
Instagram.
Richman
saw
an
opportunity to explore the Ann
Arbor food world and take students
along on her journey.
Inspired by her sister, the founder
of now-massive Nashville Eats,
Richman informed partnerships
with local culinary businesses.
These partnerships allowed Jordy
to find new Ann Arbor favorites and
learn from unique entrepreneurs.
Ann Arbor Eats shows off new
finds and hidden (to students) local
favorites: massive spreads at the
new downtown Evergreen Modern
Chinese and Bar, action-packed
popups at YORK Food and Drink,
glittering cocktails at The Last Word
and fresh seasonal specialties at
Juicy Kitchen. The account features
Ann Arbor classics of all cuisines
framed in a new, celebratory light.
A recent TikTok takes viewers
behind the scenes of Zingerman’s
Bakehouse and rainbows of Bahn
mi and pho or call us to Ginger Deli.
Close-up shots make Krazy Jim’s
Blimpy Burger look like fine dining
and snaps of Blank Slate Creamery
ice cream flight photos display
unique local flavors.
The 2022 account administrators,
LSA juniors Jenna Frieberg and Lila
Rubenstein, now post daily and keep
a “master calendar” of openings,
events, festivals and meals with
restaurant teams. Frieberg searches
local websites to keep constant
tabs on community happenings. In
an interview with The Michigan
Daily, Frieberg discussed the world
waiting for students to explore. “If
you try for maybe 30 minutes, you
can dig into a hole of … crazy local
chefs (that) all follow each other,”
Frieberg said. “Our main goal is …
connecting students like us with the
Ann Arbor community … switching
up from … the typical restaurants
everyone goes to.”
Starting
in
2018,
Richman
contacted Ann Arbor businesses
offering promotional packages of
stories, posts and business-specific
content. She provided follower
demographics (with an estimated
90% of followers living in Ann
Arbor) and an explanation of the
account mission before requesting a
comped meal. Especially during the
pandemic, as small businesses fell
behind, the comped meal concept
grew increasingly controversial.
However, this system allowed
each Ann Arbor Eats influencer to
explore the menu and showcase
their and the chef’s favorite dishes.
With the comped meal, they can
capture a variety of content and
get their classic full-spread aerial
photos and close-up pictures of
favorites. “At first … maybe half of
the restaurants were interested, or
maybe even less,” Richman said in
a phone interview with The Daily.
“As more and more time has gone
on, and they’ve seen … the impacts
of our account … Jenna and Lila
have probably worked with a large
majority,” Richman said.
Richman first spread the account
through Facebook groups for each
college class. “(Freshmen) were a
big area where we’d get followers,”
Richman said. “Because everyone
was excited to see … where they can
eat on campus when they arrive and
all that fun stuff.” Since its revival
in 2018, the account has gained
over 22 thousand followers and a
trusting fanbase. “It comes from …
the consistent posting,” Rubenstein
said. “We post daily. And we have a
lot of content and we find new places
that no one else has really heard
of before, it makes people more
intrigued to follow the account.”
The
account
is
never
monotonous, with thousands of
posts, hundreds of dishes, dozens of
local business features and creative
photos with clever captions. Ann
Arbor Eats attends every popup,
grand opening and special event
in the Ann Arbor scene. They have
expanded beyond restaurants into
the interconnected world of local
food vendors, including farmers at
the Ann Arbor Farmers Market,
chefs at the traveling Bao Boys food
truck and artisan entrepreneurs
at Bon Bon Bon Chocolates. “It’s a
whole world,” Frieberg said. “We’re
just starting to even scratch the
surface.”
KAYA GINSKY
Daily Arts Writer
Read more at MichiganDaily.com
Photos courtesy of Ann Arbor Eats
Food Column: Baking Taylor Swift’s chai
cookies is a Swiftie rite of passage
HANNAH CARAPELLOTTI
& SABRIYA IMAMI
Senior Arts Editor and
Managing Arts Editor
‘Barbarian’ is more
suspense than
spooky
Almost
one
month
into
spooky season, I’ve watched
my fair share of horror movies,
both new and old. With a 92%
score on Rotten Tomatoes and
a cast including Bill Skarsgård
(a.k.a. Pennywise the dancing
clown from the “It” series),
“Barbarian” has been on my
list since its release in early
September.
“Barbarian”
follows
Tess
Marshall (Georgina Campbell,
“Suspicion”),
a
young
20-something who rents an
Airbnb for a job interview in
Detroit. When she arrives, she
finds the house occupied by
Keith (Skarsgård). The rental
is double-booked, and with no
other houses or hotels available
in the not-so-safe neighborhood,
Tess reluctantly decides to stay
with stranger Keith after seeing
proof of reservation.
As a conscious horror movie
viewer,
I
was
immediately
skeptical of Keith, as I assumed
everyone else in the theater
was
as
well.
The
context
of
Skarsgård
as
Pennywise
contributes to this distrust. Will
he play another creepy villain?
The suspense built from the
question of whether Keith has ill
intentions drives the first act of
the film. His nervous mumbling,
in addition to what seems like
a repetitive forced display of
concern for a young woman in
an unsafe neighborhood, seems
off, almost as if he’s feigning
a show of distress. But his
warm demeanor is calming.
Skarsgård’s
performance
is
on point — he’s mysterious,
concerning and charming all at
once. His intentions are later
revealed in the film’s best scene.
“Barbarian” is a wild ride
unlike most traditional horror
films.
New
characters
are
introduced
midway
through,
helping to maintain a quick
yet suspenseful pace, and the
transitions between these new
introductions are jarring in a
perfect horror movie way. AJ’s
(Justin
Long,
“Dodgeball”)
introduction, when he speeds
down a California road in a
convertible
while
scream-
singing, adds humor to the film
at a much-need time, and his
role effectively sets in motion a
new story arc explored for the
remainder of the film.
AJ is an interesting character,
one that should be considered
the
villain
of
“Barbarian,”
even if he’s not technically
the “monster.” He’s accused
of sexual assault yet seems to
take this notice lightly until
he realizes it might affect his
acting career. He’s wealthy yet
blows enough of his money so
that hiring a lawyer brings him
close to bankruptcy. He sets
out to explore the possibility
of selling one of his properties
— the Airbnb in Detroit. It’s
difficult to properly discuss his
character without spoiling the
story. However, I will say that
AJ’s exploration of his so-called
guilt is well done. Would AJ
reach redemption? There were
moments that made me question
whether or not I was supposed
to feel sorry for him. The way
“Barbarian”
investigates
his
wrong-doings
adds
another
layer of suspense — are we
supposed to feel sympathy for
an awful character like AJ? The
film answers that loud and clear
in another one of my favorite
scenes.
“Barbarian” is a lot of fun, but
there are moments where it gets
a little dumb. There’s a fine line
when it comes to “monsters” in
horror. One step too far, and the
creature that was supposed to
scare you just doesn’t do the job,
like the half shark half octopus
thing in “Sharktopus.” That’s
how I felt about the monster
in “Barbarian.” Whenever it
was on-screen, I couldn’t help
but laugh and feel as though I
wasn’t supposed to be laughing.
I felt more anxious and scared
in moments that involved the
typical people in the film, like
the reveal of Keith’s intentions
and AJ’s potential redemption,
than I did in the dark basement
of the Airbnb, and that just
doesn’t seem right.
I enjoyed “Barbarian” for
its humor and suspense more
than for its jump scares and
dark basement scenes. The film
has a strong mix of complex
characters that make for a
refreshing horror movie, one
I would recommend to those
looking to get in the Spooky
Season spirit without too much
of a scare.
LAURA MILLAR
Daily Arts Writer
Design by Arunika Shee
Read more at MichiganDaily.com