App Curates Your New Best Friends Because Random Bars Are So 2005
KEY POINTS
- •The author attended a matcha event in Brooklyn arranged by 222, an AI-and-human curated friend-making app.
- •222 started in 2021 from backyard pasta dinners at a home with the number 222 as inspiration.
- •The app has expanded from 3 to 13 cities and matches strangers based on detailed questionnaires and curated group experiences.
Last weekend, the author submitted to 222—a social matchmaking app born from backyard pasta dinners at a house numbered 222—to sip ceremonial matcha at Samadhi, a Greenpoint wellness space. The app gathered 20 strangers who apparently hit compatibility via AI and endless questions ranging from 'Brokeback Mountain enthusiasts' (even if unviewed) to politically correct preferences. The founder, Keyan Kazemian, insists humans curate over AI, despite running an ML-powered matchmaking engine with a ’70s whipped-cream logo. The app’s footprint ballooned from 3 cities to 13 in a year, and locals confess to attending 40+ events; it’s part friend-maker, part bureaucratic census disguised as a calm morning tea session.
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Imagine signing up for an app that knows you better than you do, only to spend $20 sipping matcha awkwardly assigned next to your Tolkien-quoting soulmate. Friendships now modeled by AI, curated by humans, and blessed with an ominous 'bail and you’re banned' clause. Welcome to friendship 2.22.
Friendship apps went from finding love to finding local gurus who hate political talk but love Enya and forced small talk over green tea.
222: because meeting 20 strangers fueled by an AI questionnaire beats the Tinder bar scene with none of the charm and twice the awkwardness.
Source: Eater | Published: 2/25/2026 | Author: Francky Knapp
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