CENTRAL JERSEY— As chefs work their way through culinary school, they have dress code standards that are strictly enforced. Facial hair must be neatly trimmed or in some cases, clean-shaven. Nail polish, excessive jewelry andhairstyles that aren't considered 'neat' are all against the rules.
So how do chefs maintain their sense of individuality beneath their aprons and toque hats? They get tattoos.
In "Kitchen ink: Foodies, Chefs and Tattoos,"author Paula Arverla writes that "tattoos have become the trademark many chefs proudly exhibit to promote their self-image and their food."
One Central Jersey chef has a guitar player done in the style of Pablo Picasso in honor of his years spent in musicbefore he turned to cooking.Another has the entire cast of Spongebob Squarepants on the back of her legs, because "anything in lifecan be related back to Spongebob."
Read on to learn more about the chefs across Central Jersey, the food that they cultivate and the ink that individualizes them.
Irving Inn, Rahway: ChefGary Gonzalez
How many?:"Roughly over 30."
"Like a storybook":"My chest is covered in a tattoo. I have a tattoo behind my neck and I have two small tattoos behind each ear. Before being a chef, I was in the service as a Marine, so I used to get a tattoo every place I was stationed. So every state and country I’ve been to, I got myself a tattoo. Like a storybook, that’s what I would call it. There’s one from California, one from Missouri, one from when I was stationed in Japan. On my fingers I’ve got all my ‘tools,’ my pointer finger has my daughter’s initial with a unicorn horn because she loves unicorns.
What's your favorite?:"Behind my ears is my daughter’s birthday and the time she was born. So that has a lot of special meaning for me, when she was born, because in the service I was told I couldn’t have kids. Next thing you know, her mother became pregnant and now I have a beautiful 7-year-old daughter and she really motivates me to be where I’m at right now, so it’s great."
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Most recent:"My recent art is my name tags, that’s what we call it in the service when you have your name on your body, but I put it on my hand. So I have that and behind it I have (my daughter's)last name, her middle initial and her full name and instead of putting her social I put her birthday in military time. I have my daughter a lot, I love her a lot."
What is it with chefs & tattoos?:"We’re not normal people, I guess you could say. I mean, look at us. We work 15-16 hours a day, we have no social life. Our best friends are usually the front of the house or the bartenders that you meet at night. We’re crazy because we decided to live this life. There’s a lot of things we miss out on, like I didn’t even get to see my daughter walk for the first time because I was cooking. But working in the kitchen is an adrenaline rush, and it’s that all apart of that lifestyle."
Stage Left Steak, New Brunswick: Chef de Cuisine Ricky Stevens
Number of tattoos:A lot. "Probably in the twenties."
What are they?: "I have a food sleeve all on my left arm. My entire back is done with a traditional Japanese geisha whose face is rotting with rats crawling all over her. I have the cast of 'Star Wars'on my leg, like with the Emperors and stuff. And my other arm is a bio mech sleeve based on the paintings of H.R. Giger."
Why the vegetables?:"I don't know, I've been a chef for so long so I'm happy that I get to show that I love food and how much it means to me."
More tattoos in the future?:"I'm just trying to finish the one I'm working on now. Usually when I get an idea I hit up my guy and he sketches something out."
Go-to spot?: "It used to be Mike Gary at Revolver Tattoo, but he moved. I haven't seen him in awhile."
Any advice?:"I have two pieces of advice. First, actually think about what you want, because there's nothing worse than getting a tattoo that you'll regret. And second, get something that's actually meaningful. Some people just get tattoos just to get them, and that's not right."
The Original Thin Crust Pizza Company, Jamesburg: ChefRachael Pickett
Number of tattoos:29
What are they?:“On my right leg I have the entire cast of "SpongeBob,'' my back’s completely covered with demons, skeletons and dragons. I have a girl with no skin, her muscles and bones are all exposed. It’s all black and grey then you have colorful "SpongeBob'' on my legs. Then I have a cute piece around my belly button because I didn’t want to get a belly button ring. I have a matching tattoo with one of my friends – we’re both Pisces so we both got the little Pisces symbol.”
Favorite tatt: “In the center of my back I have a skull and crossbones, but instead of crossbones he’s got stakes jabbed through his eye sockets. I know it sounds ugly but it’s actually really cute and it’s got a little beauty mark because I have a beauty mark, so we incorporated it into the tattoo. It sounds worse than it is, but it’s actually really cute.”
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Least favorite?: “I have an old nickname, ‘Honeybee,’ on my ankle that I’ll probably get covered up. It’s terrible.”
Estimated cost?: “It’s gotta be thousands, right? Because figure every time you go it’s between $125-$150 an hour, I’d say definitely more than $5,000.”
First one?: “It made my mom cry. It’s on my shoulder blade of a demon and he’s like peeking out, so it’s like he ripped open my skin and is looking out my back. We were sitting at the dinner table one night and I was like, ‘You know I really want a tattoo, you know I’m gonna get one.’ And she was like, 'Well, what are you gonna get?’ And I said, ‘Well, something like this’ and I turned around and showed her and yeah, she went nuts. I was 18.”
More in the future?: “Oh, of course. I’m never done.”
Salted Lime Bar & Kitchen, Somerville: Sous ChefChris Minikus
Number of Tattoos:"I really don’t know. 50 maybe? I really couldn't tell you."
Describe what they are:"They’re mostly all American traditional, I’ve been getting tattooed by the same guy for about 10 years now. He does all Japanese and traditional so I’ve kinda adapted to what style he does, of what style I like."
Changing interests:"I originally was into the whole culinary tattoothing [tattoos of food], but then I eventually grew out of that and got into the actual art of tattooing, I’d say. I’m very into old-school tattooing, so Japanese or American traditional."
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Favorite?: "Right now I’m working on a piece on my stomach that’s a big eagle and snake, definitely very excited about that one."
Least favorite: "I have some embarrassing ones, from drinking with friends. I have some stupid ones on my feet, but it’s good memories with friends I’d say. So there’s still meaning behind all of them, they’re matching with two of my closest friends."
Estimated cost?:"I’d say around $10K, if I had to guess."
Go-to spot?:"Mike Riveley. He just opened his own shop, Classic Tattoo Club in Edison."
Advice?:"Um, think of what you want. As much as I love my impulsive ones, maybe don’t. And spacing, I guess too. I don’t want to tattoo my hands or my neck or anything. Because you never know what jobs will say. Although it’s more accepting nowadays, you still don’t know, I guess."
INC Restaurant, New Brunswick:Executive ChefRyan Anderson
Number of Tattoos:15
What they are:“I have a sleeve of vegetables, that’s pretty much like one piece that I’ve added on to.I have one on my leg of New Jersey. I have a Picasso painting, the old guitar player.I have the Salvador Dali rose, kind of like the rose floating in the sky. I have a tattoo of a bird. I have an open circle and a closed circle, kind of represents balance, like nothingness and wholeness. And I have a puzzle piece, and my initials."
First one?:"The New Jersey tattoo. It's green, 'cause it's the Garden State. I got that when I was in high school."
Favorite?: “Probably my most recent one, the artichoke. I have it on my hand, for all my other tattoos on my arms, but I think that one I really like because not a lot of people get hand tattoos because there’s a stigma against it, but it just looks really, really cool – it takes up the whole hand and if you glance at it, it looks like a flower. And I just love artichokes.”
Why he likes them: “I’ve always thought of myself as a creative person, that’s mainly why I got into cooking. And I kinda think of tattoos as—it’s definitely an art. I just like to express myself creatively. And I also just think they look cool. They cover up some of the burns on my arms from the years of cooking on the line."
More tattoos in the future?:"Probably just a few more, I think I've gotten past the 'honeymoon phase' of getting a bunch of tattoos. But I'm probably just gonna get a few more, I think. I want to get an avocado.I want to get a cheeseburger;my nickname when I was a kid was 'burger' because it's all I would eat. And I want to get a can of Old Bay seasoning, because I really like it."
The Red Cadillac, Union: Owner/ChefJoe Montes
Number of tattoos:2
What are they:"One is an American eagle that I got when I was 18, a long time ago, on my right shoulder, and the other one is a cross on my forearm that has my kids’ and wife’s name on it. The idea came from my father, because he came from a house in the mountains of Spain over the crossroads, so that’s how that happened."
Why do you like tattoos?:"I guess it’s self-expression. It’s a piece of art that you get to carry with you all the time. It’s cool to look at and have other people look at:it’s a representation of some spot in your life."
More in the future?: "Yeah, for sure. And I guess I have to get a Red Cadillac one soon. It’s getting to that point but I’ll have to think about it."
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Were they painful?:"There’s a fine line between pleasure and pain. So deciding to get them, the pain involved is the pain that you’re meant to have. But yeah, they hurt but like I said, fine line between pleasure and pain. It’s kind of like cooking."
Why do chefs get tattoos?:"I guess it's a pretty close correlation. For chefs, it's a tough job. It's hot, there's fire, there's grease, there's knives. And that lifestyle, because it is a lifestyle, it lends itself more to the self-expression that we do when we cook. We're kind of lending our art to our food, and I think that the tattoos are kind of another form of self-expression, which is why you'll see a lot of chefs that are free-spirits that have the ability and technique to do cook things and also experience art with tattoos. It's a gratification thing, like a joy of showing their stuff."
Catherine Lombardi, New Brunswick: Executive ChefJR Belt
Number of tattoos:2
Describe them:"The one on my left arm is writing from a sushi restaurant that I got when I was 18, so it’s from a company for Nori wrappers. And then the big one on my right arm is basically two chef knives, kind of like a crest with roses around it and my kid’s names."
Why do you like tattoos?:"It was just one of those things I wanted when I was a kid. I’d have more, but they’re expensive."
Any future ones?:"Of course, I’d like to finish my sleeve. But you know, I gotta wait because they’re expensive."
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Most painful?: "I didn’t really think either one was that painful, honestly. I feel like when I got my ears pierced it hurt more than that. It hurts but it doesn’t, it feels like someone’s scratching you. So for me, where it is, is not that painful. I know a lot of people who get them in certain spots and it’s very painful, but on my arm in between my shoulder and my elbow on the outside wasn’t that painful."
Go-to spot?:"Revolver in New Brunswick. They’re very good, very clean. Some places you go in and it’s nice but when you walk into Revolver, aside from the tattoo stuff you feel like you’re in a medical office. It’s very sanitary, which is the most important thing. And the artists are good."
Lombardi Pizza Co., Martinsville: Owner/ChefPeter Lombardi
Number of tattoos:6
Describe them: “The first one I got was on my inner wrist area, on my left arm. It’s a memorial for my mom who passed away, with roses and stuff. That’s my favorite one. On my left shoulder, I have Leonardo da Vinci’s sketch of a woman that I have from a book when I traveled to Italy. At the restaurant, our logo is ‘LPC’ and we have a basil emblem, so I got the little basil emblem on my left wrist. And the same day I got that, I got a blade of wheat grass behind my forearm. On my right forearm, I have a tattoo of an evergreen tree because I like the shape of it, it’s completely cosmetic. And then the day Anthony Bourdain died, I got a chef knife with his initials in my right bicep area. It’s not big, it’s small. Just because coming from a culinary background, he’s very inspirational to a lot of people and I admired the guy a lot."
Most painful?:"The basil leaf. That hurt more than I thought it would because it’s right on the bone. And I remember that being pretty uncomfortable."
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First one: “My mother passed away like 10 years ago so I have like a memorial thing on my arm with some roses and stuff. It has my mother’s birthday and she (the tattoo artist)actually wrote the wrong date. I didn’t even notice so she ran out, I guess she realized it after that one of the numbers was wrong. I had to go back so that they could fix it. You could never tell, but that was my first tattoo experience – the one thing you never want to happen.”
Cost:"I don’t know, $1,500 maybe?"
More on the horizon?: "After you break the threshold of one, in my opinion, it doesn’t matter anymore. You’ve already been judged by your family, so now I’ll just go and get another one anywhere and I don’t mind if something comes up and if I want to have something small on my arm. I don’t want to be completely covered with like a sleeve, I like the random, small pieces all over."
Although she's a New York native, Editorial Intern Alexandra Antonucci isproud to call New Jersey home, where she gets to write and report on events, food and everything in between throughout the Garden State for the second summer in a row. Contact her at AAntonucci@njpressmedia or follow her on Twitter@alexmarieant.
