[Baltimore Sun] Meet Tini Younger, a social media chef and Ravens fan with over 9 million followers
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As far as Tineke Younger is concerned, she was born a Ravens fan. Her love of football was nurtured by an uncle who lived next door. And the everlasting memory of her childhood fandom was a Super Bowl 47 party, which ended with an 11-year-old Younger watching her uncle gallop through their Maryland neighborhood banging pots and pans.
It would be years before she’d get to M&T Bank Stadium for her first game — a luxury afforded by her nascent cooking career.
In the past three years, the 23-year-old social media chef from Frederick, known to her online fans as Tini, has amassed over 9 million followers between Instagram and TikTok. They often see her outfitted in one of a half-dozen Ravens jersey options in her closet, including a black No. 52 for her favorite player, former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.
Her cooking videos are personable and mouth-watering lessons in two minutes or less. One video this summer flexed a deeply unrelatable skill — she dreamed of banana bread french toast with bananas foster, woke up and beautifully brought it to life.
Younger had her first clear indication of social media success last fall. A sponsorship with Old Bay seasoning flew her from her home in Georgia to Baltimore — or as she pronounces it in the recap video, “Baldamore” — for Ravens vs. Bengals.
That night, former All-Pro receiver Steve Smith Sr. recognized her and asked for a picture. Younger got to try on the Super Bowl 47 ring. She toured the sideline. And met a few Ravens employees.
“When I started cooking on social media,” Younger said, “I was broke. Me and my fiance were both full-time college students, working full time and we were selling our furniture to pay rent. … It’s insane to think just two years ago I was in that position. Everything changed so quickly.”
You wouldn’t know it judging by her ease in the kitchen today, but Younger did not always aspire to be a chef. By the time she was a teenager, she knew just a few simple recipes: “I could make cookies and spaghetti, and that was about it,” she said.
As a freshman and sophomore at Walkersville High School, Younger struggled to find her path. She says she had a 1.5 GPA and multiple disciplinary referrals when she decided to shadow students at the Career Technology Center, a trade school run by Frederick County Public Schools.
Her family’s running joke is, growing up, they always had a hunch she’d be on TV. “We used to tease her because ever since she was little, she’s like, I’m gonna be famous,” her mom, Vicki Younger, said. “And we’re like, yeah, you’re gonna be famous. You’re gonna be on TV, but you’re gonna be on ‘Cops.’”
She was first drawn to the trade school’s cosmetology program — “I just wanted to learn how to do my nails” — but soured on that plan when she realized she would also have to learn how to style hair. As Younger was leaving her day of shadowing, she picked up on the smell of food wafting down the hall from the culinary classes.
“I found out if you shadow for the culinary school, you get to miss two hours of regular school and then you get to eat,” she recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’m doing that.’”
Tini Younger, a Frederick native and 23-year-old chef popular on social media, is an avid Ravens fan. Younger wears a Super Bowl 47 ring she got to try on. (Courtesy of Vicki Younger)
Younger quickly found herself drawn to the fast-paced world of hospitality and entered the CTC’s culinary program the next year, as a junior. Her GPA rose to a 3.5 and she found herself getting into less trouble, too. “It just changed everything,” she said.
After graduation, she enrolled in the culinary school at Frederick Community College and worked in restaurants as a line cook. She started to post cooking videos on social media, too, under the handles @tiniyounger on Instagram and @tinekeyounger on TikTok.
Younger’s online presence is laid-back and conversational. Her most popular videos feature easy-to-make comfort food, like a mac-and-cheese tutorial that has amassed more than 116 million views since she posted it to TikTok in November.
An appearance on the second season of “Next Level Chef,” a Fox TV cooking competition featuring celebrity-chef judges Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington and Richard Blais, launched her to a whole new level of success.
When Younger was approached about the show in the summer of 2022, she had already accepted a gig with Disney World’s culinary program. At first, she thought the casting email was a scam. When she realized it was legitimate, she struggled with the decision to quit her Disney job. “I ended up taking that little risk,” she said, “and it worked in my favor.”
Within two weeks of learning she had been selected as a contestant for the show, she was on the way to start filming. Younger made it to the final eight out of a group of 18 original contestants before she was eliminated. Though she was the youngest chef there, she says she didn’t feel intimidated by the competition.
“I knew I wasn’t going to win because I had just graduated culinary school,” she said. “I went to just learn. We were all learning from each other, because we were all at different stages in our career.”
She acknowledges that Ramsay’s star power did make her a little nervous. She still can’t fully remember the first time she met him, when he came to offer a pep talk while she was chopping onions. The heartfelt moment was captured on video and shared widely on social media.
The moment was “insane,” she said. “I still can’t, like, really process it.”
The surge of online followers she gained from appearing on the show allowed her to make recipe development and content creation her full-time job. This summer, she also published her first cookbook, “Cooking For My Boyfriend,” a 50-recipe collection featuring some of her viral hits, like the mac and cheese, as well as some personal and family favorites.
Younger poses with her fiance Antoine Wright Jr. during a Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium. (Courtesy of Vicki Younger)
The boyfriend is now her fiance. Younger and Antoine Wright Jr. announced their engagement in November and recently bought a home in Georgia.
Sunday night’s AFC showdown between the Ravens and Bills is something of a house-divided game for Younger. Wright was born in Buffalo and raised a Bills fan before moving to Maryland, where they met.
Inter-house rivalries aside, it’s likely the NFL’s most highly anticipated Week 4 matchup. On Wednesday, Ravens coach John Harbaugh said the Bills are “probably the best team in the National Football League right now.” Baltimore, meanwhile, is still finding its footing despite ending last season ending one game shy of the Super Bowl.
“They’re stressing me out,” Younger said of the one-win Ravens through three games.
She’s adamant they have the skill but thinks, on the field, they don’t seem to be clicking yet. Younger suggested more team bonding. Perhaps a round of trust falls, she quipped. “They need some team bonding and then we’ll be good.”
Tini’s recipes
Maryland Crab Dip
8 ounces cream cheese (soften)
4 tbsp mayo
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tbsp whole grain mustard
1/4-1/2 cup Old Bay Hot Sauce (more if you want it spicier)
Old Bay Seasoning (measure with your heart)
Salt, pepper, onion powder and paprika to taste.
Roasted garlic seasoning or 1 bulb of roasted garlic
8 ounces hickory smoked cheddar cheese (hand shredded)
8 ounces Gruyere cheese (hand shredded)
Juice of 1 lemon
8 ounces lump crab (or more depending on how crabby you like your dip)
Video directions: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTFkHypMC/
Buffalo Chicken Dip
2 chicken breasts (butterfly cut)
Seasonings for chicken: seasoning salt, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne pepper, smoked paprika, dry ranch seasoning (if using blue cheese for the dip leave this part out)
8 ounces smoked Gouda (hand shredded)
8 ounces cheddar cheese (hand shredded)
8 ounces cream cheese (soften)
1 packet of ranch seasoning or 1/4 cup blue cheese
1 bulb of roasted garlic
Chopped chives
Video directions: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Rm8XoV/
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