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As part of an upcoming photo essay project spotlighting Denver restaurant pros whose tatts are as prevalent as their dissections, burns, blisters, knife slashes and stabs, we promised that we’d post some of the best ink on the Cafe Society blog.
We’ve already exposed the tatts of Matt Selby, executive chef of Steuben’s and Vesta Dipping Grill; Brandon Biedermann, chef de cuisine of Steuben’s; and Chad Clevenger, chef/owner of Mel’s Bar & Grill, who described his tattoo as “a blue-footed Bresse chicken that’s very fatty and tasty.”
We also featured the bacon and eggs Mexican sugar skull that belongs to Erik Perez, who works as a bartender/server at Mezcal and a cook/server/bartender at Krameria Cafe. “I’ve worked in diners my whole life, cooking a lot of bacon and eggs, so this just made sense to me,” explained Perez, who got inked earlier this year by Adrian Hernandez at Tin Man Tattoo.
Today’s ink belongs to Chase Wilbanks, the chef de cuisine from La Tour in Vail. Wilbanks was in Denver last weekend, cooking at a Hush Denver event, when he rolled up his sleeve and flashed a brilliant red tattoo of a crab, complete with a lemon, fork and plate. “I was sort of going for a seafood, ocean theme, but the tattoo was just freehand and random,” says Wilbanks. “I love crab, though: It’s my my favorite seafood and a whole l0t better than lobster.”
Wilbanks got the tatt six years ago from Willy Smith, an artist at Mystic Ink, 1836 South Broadway.
If you’re a restaurant employee with good ink, send photos of your tatts (and the stories behind them) to cafe@westword.com.
