Foodie Tattoos for People Who Like to Eat

It makes sense that the Gen X and Yers who have embraced food as a lifestyle pursuit and tattoos as an expression of personal identity would want to combine those two loves. And foodie tattoos are now certifiably and definitively a thing.

Chefs have long embraced food tattoos as a badge of industry honor. A number of chefs sport not just odes to their favorite ingredient, from pork (Atlanta's Gunshow chef Kevin Gillespie) to the radish (decorating Southern-centric chef Hugh Acheson). A surprising number put the chef's supporting player—the knife—front and center.

Check out some of these other great food tattoos.

Broccoli Is Boss

Chef and co-owner with his wife Lisa of Atlanta's popular Home Grown restaurant, Kevin Clark is an avid gardener and grows many of the vegetables that show up on his menu in a garden behind his restaurant. Clark sports a vividly detailed image of broccoli, a constant reminder of his love of food and gardening. But that's just one of his many tattoos: he also has a peach ("because I am from Georgia"), a parsnip and a hog decorating his appendages.

Garden Cornucopia

"My fruits and veggies tattoo features my favorite produce both to grow and to eat: eggplant, asparagus, red-leaf lettuce, Brussels sprouts, green bell pepper, apple, orange, grapes, cherries, grapes and tomato," says Amy Ellis, an Atlanta resident who works in technology.

Artichoke Ink

Atlanta chef and owner of "boutique charcuterie" spot the Spotted Trotter Kevin Outzs'  tattoo was inspired by the logo to his first restaurant: an artichoke. He also sports a pig tattoo.

Top Tom

Atlanta artist Lindy Lane has a number of garden-related tattoos that remind her of her parents and grandparents, who all shared a love of gardening and farming. "All of my garden-related tattoos are sentimental, nostalgic symbols for people and places in my life," says Lane. "The green tomato on my leg is for my grandparents, who grew up on farms in Georgia," says Lane. "I spent a lot of my childhood on their land in Jesup, Georgia where they grew many fruits and veggies. My 'Mema' always made friend green tomatoes with her fresh tomatoes."

"I have lemons and mint leaves on my foot that represent home and my mother," says Lindy Lane. "I grew up on St. Simons Island in Southeast Georgia. Growing up, my mother spent a fair amount of time outside, gardening in the yard. We had a lemon tree and my mother would often ask me to pick lemons and/or mint for dinner, be it for sweet tea or seafood."