Cheesier, Saucier, and Drowning in Caviar

How TikTok took over the menu.

- EZRA MARCUS

THE MOST IMPORTANT socialmedia food genre of the past decade is photos of avocado toast, bright and colorful and clean. But innovation is relentless, and the high-contrast gaze has been pushed off timelines by videos like the 35-second review of the Odeon that was posted in the fall by the VIP List, an influencer account (with 480,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram) run by Audrey Jongens and Maeghan Radice. The duo offer scathing takedowns of restaurants they deem to have “peasant” vibes: “This is arguably the most iconic restaurant in New York, and it’s giving nothing but mid!” the voice-over declares. “The kale Caesar was giving low-budget … and the lobster rolls were serving major tuna-salad energy.”

The highest compliment that Jongens and Radice can award any dish is that “it fucks” (an appetizer of warm pull-apart pretzels at Manhatta in the Financial District recently received this important distinction), and a glowing review from a high-follower channel like the VIP List is increasingly more valuable to restaurants than traditional accolades, able to drive customer traffic more immediately while sustaining buzz for months. Restaurateurs are not oblivious to the fact that social media—TikTok especially but also Instagram Reels and even YouTube—it can be an essential restaurant-discovery tool for young diners, and they have started to adopt (or build) their businesses to lure in a new breed of critic who is happy to play the role of ad hoc publicist if it means free food or, in some cases, thousands of dollars in cash. As this new economy has emerged, so too has a set of best practices, ideas, and even ingredients that are optimized to satisfy, above all else, the ever-evolving demands of the FYP algorithm.