The UN-TRAD RISE of NARA AZIZA SMITH

Her FROM-SCRATCH COOKING VIDEOS regularly go VIRAL to the tune of 20 MILLION VIEWS, inspiring AWE, RAGE, and MEMES galore. But if you ask Smith about it, "It isn't that DEEP."

- BIANCA BETANCOURT

It's 10:30 a.m. in Beverly Hills, and Nara Aziza Smith wants truffle fries.

"Is that crazy?" she asks me, flipping her freshly done box braids behind her shoulder and adjusting the straps of her white lace midi dress.

We both stick out a bit. On the patio of the Terrace café at the Maybourne hotel on North Canon Drive, the crowd is mostly older, mostly male, mostly white Hollywood-exec types. We are noticeably younger and even more noticeably the only two biracial Black girls sitting for brunch. The patio looks over a pristinely manicured garden. Everything is so perfect, it almost looks Al-generated.

Smith seems to be searching for some assurance that I won't judge her for indulging in a bowl of fried potatoes before noon.

"Will you share some with me?" she asks. It's almost cliché to start a celebrity profile with a description of a meal order-even more so when the subject is a young woman.

But this is a story about Nara Aziza Smith. Food-the cooking of it, the presentation of it-is why she's rocket-shipped to viral fame and why we're here. (For what it's worth, she ordered a plain croissant and a whole-milk matcha latte to go along with the fries.) Plus, in Girl World, sharing a bowl of fries is a rite of passage.

It's a signal that there's a lot to discuss in just a little amount of time, and when it comes to Smith-the 22-year-old South African and German model turned TikTok sensation, mega mom influencer, and certified internet-discourse-starting machine-there's quite a bit the world has been waiting to hear her say.

Smith is still trying to figure out where she fits amid all of the frenzy. "I never know what to say when people ask me [what I do], because technically, yes, I create content," she says.