Welcome back to Ink Spotted, a feature in which Eater talks to DC's tattooed chefs and gets the stories behind their most intriguing ink.
[Photos: Nevin Martell/Eater.com]
"I didn't want simply a badass tattoo," says Sou'Wester's chef de cuisine Eddie Moran. "I wanted one that was very meaningful to me." Raised a Catholic, he was looking to get a piece that reflected both his upbringing and his passion for cooking. Researching through the annals of church history, he stumbled across Saint Lawrence of Rome. This patron saint of chefs was burned to death on a gridiron. "Here’s someone who feeds people out of the kindness of his heart," says Moran. "Then he's grilled alive like he's a piece of food.”
The future saint's last words were supposedly, "This side is done. Turn me over and take a bite."
"That's super badass," says Moran. "It's almost Braveheart level."
His next tattoo isn't going to be gruesome in the slightest. On his right arm he is planning to get a colorful collection of mushrooms — chanterelles, porcinis, maybe a Smurf shroom — as well as a banana slug and some ramps. It's inspired by an ethnobotanical hike he took through the mountains of Santa Cruz while in college. He and his classmates foraged wild strawberries, lamb's lettuce, Miner's lettuce, porcini mushrooms, and wild onions, then made a fresh salad at the end of their adventure. "It was very much a hippie experience," he says. "But from that point on, I really enjoyed digging up and picking fresh food."
—Nevin Martell
· All Previous Editions of Ink Spotted [-EDC-]
Loading comments...