Life Through The Lens: Portland Monthly Kitchen Ink

The last day in November I photographed an event for Portland Monthly Magazine that was both visually and gastronomically delicious. Seven of Portland's top chefs (and one bartender) gathered with eight tattoo artists at Infinity Tattoo to mix ink with cuisine. Throughout the day the tat artists laid down designs inspired by dishes the chefs would prepare that evening at Acadia Bistro. The imagery spanned a broad spectrum of beautiful tattoos, from an intricately designed Barramundi to a piece of French Toast expressing it's frustrations through colorful hand gestures. Before the ink was dry, the chefs, the artists, and myself headed over to Acadia for an evening of fine food, tasty drinks, and a lot of great conversation. Two of Portland's artistic communities getting together to celebrate each other, just because.

Chef Gabriel Rucker of Le Pigeon.

Chef/Owner John Gorham of Toro Bravo.

Tim Jordan of Optic Nerve Tattoo.

Amanda Meyers of Infinity Tattoo.

Paul Zenk of Infinity Tattoo.

Rich Cuellar of Infinity Tattoo doing a butcher knife on Chef John Gorham.

Tim Jordan doing a Barramundi on Chef John Eisenhart of Pazzo.

Chef Sarah Higgs of Acadia.

Tim finishes up the Barramundi on John.

A full house at Infinity Tattoo on NE Lombard.

Infinity owner Paul Zenk dips in for more color while doing Adam Higgs' tattoo.

Saad Sweilem of Pussycat Tattoo works on "Frenchy" on the leg of Chef Karl Zenk.

Chefs Tommy Habetz and John Gorham in the kitchen at Acadia.

Too many cooks in the kitchen? No way, these pros worked well together in a tight space.

Bone-in Pork Belly with the spare rib still attached, skin on. Wet cured in a brine with Allspice, Bay Leaves, and garlic for three days, smoked for four hours, then slow cooked for five hours, by Adam Higgs.