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Gillespie tells us about the swine tat, his Southern-inspired ink and his favorite "Top Chef" challenges.
Question. We've seen some of your tattoos on "Top Chef." Tell us about that giant pig tattoo on your forearm and your other ink.
Answer. My entire left arm, which is full, is an entire tribute piece to growing up in the South. The pig tattoo comes from an experience I had when I was younger. I went camping and was chased by a wild boar, and I had to kill the wild boar. I shot it. It was a very traumatic experience for me when I was young. Thinking about it as an adult, it was one of those peculiar, strange, amazing things that happen in your life that you can look back on remember very clearly. Taking that into now what is my love culinarily for the pig, I felt like it would have a dual significance. I chose the wild boar, more than anything, because it makes a cooler lookin' tattoo.
Directly opposite the boar is a copperhead snake wrapped around a hunting knife. When I was a kid, my dad, my uncles and my cousins would all go camping. And when I say camping, my dad and his brothers' version of camping was very survivalist -- "hike in the woods with nothing and build shelters" type of camping. I had another experience with a snake where I stepped right on top of it and had to jump off of it very quickly to not get struck by this copperhead.
I have an old, classic Americana-style pinup girl done in a Southern belle sort of way. She's a redhead. My mother, my sister and my grandmother are redheads. It wasn't meant to be any one particular person, but to remind me of the women who raised me and made a difference in my life.
At the top I have the piece de resistance. I wanted to try to accomplish the single-most stereotypical redneck tattoo. People not from the South think that's what the South is all about. Your friends and the people you grow up with are in the know, that it's not really this place devoid of culture. Let everyone else assume that. I have a big skull with a trucker hat on it and it says "Dixie" underneath it and has crossed shotguns.
Q. What was your favorite Quickfire Challenge?
A. The one with the escargot. I've never ever worked with escargot. I thought that was really challenging. I liked it because the product quality was amazing. It helps me, as far as the way that I cook, the quality of the product is the basis of my style of food. (Kevin's winning dish: Escargot fricassee with mushrooms, Brussels sprouts and candied bacon jam.)
Q. Favorite Elimination Challenge?
A. The Pigs and Pinot event. I liked the idea behind it. I like working with pigs. I like being given a piece and figuring out what you're going to do with it. (Kevin's winning dish: Pork leg pate with mushroom salad and pickled cherries and a pork fat-based mayonnaise paired with 2006 Sokol Blosser Dundee Hills pinot noir.)
