Who Did Your Ink?: Chef Adam Perrier trusts a man who can tattoo himself

Who Did Your Ink? is the Straight’s weekly feature, where we ask badass Vancouverites about the talented artists, indelible stories, and, at times, questionable antics behind their most treasured tattoos.

In honour of our 20th annual Golden Plates issue, we talk to a member of Vancouver's culinary scene for this week's edition.

What's your name?  Adam Perrier.

What do you do? I’m the head chef at Café Medina (780 Richards Street).

Who did your ink?  I’ve had many artists contribute to my tattoo collection over the years, but my two favourite artists are Lionk at Creative Tattoo in Ubud, Bali, and J. Rick at Bucerias Tattoostudio in Bucerias, Mexico.

Why did you choose these artists to do your tattoos?  I chose both Lionk and J. Rick for similar reasons—not just because their styles were great, but they’re also great people.

Are there any meanings behind your tattoos?  I was travelling to Asia for the first time when I found the Creative Tattoo shop in Ubud, a town full of all kinds of artists. The place was tiny and it was pretty much the only tattoo shop I could find, but it happened to be one of the best in Bali.

I walked in with an idea and I got a really good vibe from Lionk. He did a koi fish on each of my forearms, which represent my trip to Asia and me being a Pisces. Like many tattoo artists—from what I hear, anyway—Lionk learned how to tattoo by tattooing himself. This spoke volumes to me. Like a chef who wouldn’t eat his own cooking, how can you trust an artist that wouldn’t tattoo him- or herself? He also gives a lot back to the community in Ubud, which was great to see.

J. Rick I found much like Lionk. Bucerias Tattoo was pretty much the only shop close to where I was staying in Puerto Vallarta. I had gone on this trip with a group of friends. Two of us were unlucky and had our luggage stolen right off the shuttle bus to the hotel! After having to buy all the necessities I’d need for the rest of the trip, I was so bummed.

My girlfriend at the time (now my wife) thought that maybe buying me a tattoo would cheer me up. That’s when I met Rick. After chatting with him for a short while, it just made sense to get a tattoo from him. He did an incredible tattoo of some morel mushrooms on my inner bicep. Great detail and very lifelike.

Who's your favourite local tattoo artist? Jeff Tam and the other artists at Monkey King Tattoos (1381 Kingsway).

What’s next on your ink list?  I have a couple of ideas in mind for future artwork—one in particular being a memorial for my grandparents. They passed away within the same year of one another.

They came from a very small town in Ontario called Cardinal, where they had a big bird-feeder in the back yard and there would always be two cardinals eating out of it. So for the memorial piece, I’d like to get two cardinals sitting on a branch or perch—one for each of them.