Yo Cuz: Steve Martorano on His Autobiographical Ink

Welcome to Show Us Your Tats, a feature in which Eater talks to Vegas’ tattooed chefs and gets the stories behind their most intriguing ink.

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• Steve Martorano tattoos.
• Padre Pio tattoo.
• Arm tattoo.

Steve Martorano has spent the past 10 years trying to get his own TV show. He tells this story because he claims it was his tattoos that kept him off the small screen. “I was too edgy,” says the Philly-born chef, or as he likes to say, cook, behind Martorano’s, the Italian joint with tasty meatballs at the Rio.

His Padre Pio tattoo on his right leg comes at the hands of Mario Barth Starlight Tattoo. Martorano says it pays tribute to his cousin George Martorano, the longest-serving, first-time, non-violent offender in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, who was sentenced in 1984 to life in prison without the possibility of parole for drug possession and distribution. The ink all went on free hand.

Another tattoo says My Life, My Food, My Way for his autobiographical book. One on his shoulder declares his love for his mother.

But perhaps his favorite on his right forearm says Yo Cuz, the name for his jewelry line and a phrase often associated with the chef, who says he runs his kitchen the same way he ran his neighborhood in Philly.
· All Coverage of Martorano's [~ELV~]