A new book, Knives & Ink, by writer Issac Fitzgerald and illustrator Wendy MacNaughton, documents the cooks whose food stories are written on their bodies as well as their menus. Introduction by Killian Fox
Anyone who has done much dining out over the past 10 years will have likely noticed a change coming over the people preparing their food. No longer a phalanx of indistinguishable figures in whites and toques, chefs have shrugged off the uniform and are hellbent on declaring their individuality. They do this in a variety of ways but none more striking than the tattoo, which has spread from biceps to hands, from chests to necks and faces. Some, as these illustrations from new book Knives & Ink document, refer to food (pigs, cakes and shellfish abound); others have personal meanings that benefit from a little explanation.
Of course, chefs are far from the only ones with tattoos these days, nor is the tattooed chef anything new. As food impresario Andrea Petrini points out, Paul Bocuse has been sporting a coq gaulois on his bicep since his stint in a US army hospital during the second world war. “A lot of chefs have been wearing tattoos for ages, but they weren’t showing it,” Petrini says. “They were hanging around with their funny hats and long-sleeved chef’s jackets – now they’re wearing short sleeves.” They are also, thanks to the rise of the open kitchen and a general easing of restaurant formalities, more visible to diners than before. If you’re offended at the prospect of being catered to by a chef with a pig’s head on his throat, best look away now.
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