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Chef Tattoos

20K views 76 replies 27 participants last post by  cook for life 
#1 ·
I wear my heart on my sleeve, literally. Going to be getting my next tattoo soon, first cooking related ink. Cooks are a strange breed and I'm a creature with a thirst and hunger for knowledge. What culinary tattoos to you have?
 
#4 ·
I have one cooking related tattoo, an hourglass on the inside of my right arm. High enough my sleeve protects and hides.

My first business was a pizzeria next door to a tattoo parlour, and I became friends with the guy. His wife was addicted to the hot sauce I made, and bartered me a tattoo for a batch of sauces as a Christmas present to her. 2.5 hours of my time for 2.5 of his.
 
#5 ·
None... it's a fad, just like mohawks, muscle shirts, mustaches and mullets.  

All are easily changeable except a tatoo.

If you have to think about what you want to permanently put on your skin you probably don't really want it there ...
 
#6 · (Edited by Moderator)
A tattoo is what it is ... a statement. If it makes you happy, then you're happy. NO problemmo. Many, many chefs have tattoos. Does it make them any more or less better? As chefs ... I can't see how. Are they happy ... you'd have to ask them. I really can't see any problem being happy. I know some of the big-named people on TV are somewhat proud of themselves and their tattoos. Michael Symon comes to mind.


I'm not going to blow any smoke at anyone claiming that better/good/great chefs need to have any tattoos. I will though say that I don't think that there is any relationship between tattoos and skill. If you want one ... get one. If you don't want any ... don't get any.

We work in kitchens ... It ain'te rocket surgery.
 
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#10 ·
I've seen cook free or die.

Tats aren't a fad that's going to fade, by the way. People said the same thing about ear piercings, women wearing pants, etc. Tats have been around for a LONG time, and have more recently gotten more popular/acceptable in western society, which is cool. 

I've known many a good chef that was heavily tatted, some of my best hires have been guys with ink. Like Iceman said, it has nothing to do with your ability to work in a kitchen.
 
#13 ·
Tats aren't a fad that's going to fade, by the way. People said the same thing about ear piercings, women wearing pants, etc. Tats have been around for a LONG time, and have more recently gotten more popular/acceptable in western society, which is cool.
No... you're right, tats have been around for a few centuries--it's just that visible tats were not socially accepted.

One of my favorite books in "the throne room" is a circa 1910 reprint of a "saloon and hotel supplies". Among the manualy operated ice cutting machine and bar mounted cigarette lighers that used gasoline and 12 volt electrical system, is, close to thirty pages of spitoon and cuspidor models. I forget which is specifically made for floors, and which is for tabletops. I'm left to assume that spitting and horking in public was socially accepted up until about the 1940's. Then again, I do know for a fact that it was socially accepted that women were incapable of voting (or holding public office, for that matter) up until the--what--1920's?

What is accepted now, might not be accepted in 10 or 20 years from now....
 
#14 · (Edited)
Actually NO, it's really got nothing to do with hockey. But I can understand why you would think that it does. "Iceman" was my call-name when I was in the NAVY. It was, LOL, before the movie.
now i understand the handel Iceman
--it's just that visible tats were not socially accepted.
"Socially accepted" is an interesting idea. It's accepted or not, depending on which side of the glass you are looking at it from, and the color of glass you are looking through. Because something is not acceptable to You, please do not think that you are speaking for all of society. Society is considerably elastic; bendy, stretchy, twisty and very flexible. The view of the world can be very different depending on from where you are looking.
 
#15 ·
..."Socially accepted" is an interesting idea. It's accepted or not, depending on which side of the glass you are looking at it from, and the color of glass you are looking through. Because something is not acceptable to You, please do not think that you are speaking for all of society. Society is considerably elastic; bendy, stretchy, twisty and very flexible. The view of the world can be very different depending on from where you are looking.
And in the food service game, the view of the majority of the customers sometimes overrides the views of the chef /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif
 
#16 · (Edited)
Who's "majority of customers"?!? Just because the majority of YOUR customers maybe don't like tattoos, and maybe some other chef's customers might not like them doesn't mean anything whatsoever about the majority of customers somewhere else after that. Do you actually go out and ask the majority of your customers what they think about tattoos ... or do you leave them be, and project your opinion on what you think they will feel?!? Just maybe they really don't care a rat's tail bit about whether their chef has any body art ... and are only concerned about how good the dish is that they will hopefully be enjoying, and then paying for.
 
#17 ·
"Socially accepted" is an interesting idea. It's accepted or not, depending on which side of the glass you are looking at it from, and the color of glass you are looking through. Because something is not acceptable to You, please do not think that you are speaking for all of society. Society is considerably elastic; bendy, stretchy, twisty and very flexible. The view of the world can be very different depending on from where you are looking.
Mmmm.. what was the Navy's opinion of visible tats? On officers?
 
#19 ·
Hey Squirrel, 

Are you a armed forces veteran?  I don't think I could name more than a dozen guys I knew that didn't have a tattoo, officers included.  NO, I don't remember any neck or face tattoos, but lots of arms and chests.  Tattoos have nothing to do in any way with quality of work performed, or services provided. 
 
#20 ·
Fair enough.  I don't think any employer--myself included--cares-or should care- about what's under normal working clothes.  It's the visible tats that are really concerning. 
 
#21 ·
Fair enough. I don't think any employer--myself included--cares-or should care- about what's under normal working clothes. It's the visible tats that are really concerning.
And they have nothing to do with cooking skills, but they MAY have a significant impact on the potential customers.
 
#22 ·
I've seen cook free or die.

Tats aren't a fad that's going to fade, by the way. People said the same thing about ear piercings, women wearing pants, etc. Tats have been around for a LONG time, and have more recently gotten more popular/acceptable in western society, which is cool.

I've known many a good chef that was heavily tatted, some of my best hires have been guys with ink. Like Iceman said, it has nothing to do with your ability to work in a kitchen.
Here here. Ink, tats, art, piece, etc... whatever you want to call it. Tattoos are a form of expression. MUCH like cooking. Tattoos don't make a chef, but a chef could make a pretty gnarly tattoo. IMO, as a chef, you put yourself on a plate, you put yourself on your skin. EXPRESS YOURSELF!
 
#24 ·
How much $$$ have you ever collected from a "potential customer"? I've always been concerned with the customers in the seats. Do you advertise for these potential customers with posters showing your kitchen staff having clean pasty white skin free of any tattoos ... or do you promote good food? How many people do you walk through your kitchen every shift to see that your staff doesn't have any tattoos? Do you parade your staff out during shift to show that they don't have any tattoos? Do you even have a dining room ... or do you serve everyone in the kitchen so they can see your staff? I don't know for positive sure about anyone else, but I care a lot more about putting good food on plates that come back to my kitchen empty than I do about anything else. I worry more that my kitchen staff are competently skilled than if anyone can see any tattoos. I guess I don't know my profession.
 
#25 ·
IceMan,

Yes, the customers SEE the kitchen and ALL the employees as it is open to the dining room. I cannot, nor do I want to, hide my employees in the back room.

I respect your opinion, why is it so difficult to respect mine?

I like to be able to pay my employees, that means I must address my customers' wishes and desires as they provide the money to do so.

I'm not in the business of producing good or great food, I'm in the business of getting customers to pay for the food!

Oh, forgot to point out, I did hire a cook with visible tattoos (probably as nice as any you've seen), great cook, on time, very pleasant and personable, followed orders and recipes to the tee, gross sales dropped nearly 75% to the point where I could not afford to pay him. He moved on to a job in Los Angeles and my gross came back and increased.

Was the food better after he left? Um, I don't believe so, but I could pay the bills.
 
#26 ·
IceMan,

Yes, the customers SEE the kitchen and ALL the employees as it is open to the dining room. I cannot, nor do I want to, hide my employees in the back room.

I respect your opinion, why is it so difficult to respect mine?

I like to be able to pay my employees, that means I must address my customers' wishes and desires as they provide the money to do so.

I'm not in the business of producing good or great food, I'm in the business of getting customers to pay for the food!

Oh, forgot to point out, I did hire a cook with visible tattoos (probably as nice as any you've seen), great cook, on time, very pleasant and personable, followed orders and recipes to the tee, gross sales dropped nearly 75% to the point where I could not afford to pay him. He moved on to a job in Los Angeles and my gross came back and increased.

Was the food better after he left? Um, I don't believe so, but I could pay the bills.
I respect Pete's position. There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer to the question of whether someone should employ an inked cook.

Ink has nothing to do with the skill of the cook, which I think Pete would agree with.

It just might not be good for business, though it could be good, or may have no impact on business either way.

Depends on the venue.

But this thread didn't start out as to whether one should get/have tattoos, or what that says about that person.

The OP already has ink, and merely asked if any of us had culinary tattoos.

Mine can be seen in my gallery. One is culinary themed.

Mike, if and when you get one come back and show it off. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif
 
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