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

