His name: David "Yeah Dave" Romanelli
His game: walking the path to enlightenment with ample stops for wine, dine, and jazz - and for good measure, hugging a stranger, publishing a bestseller, and rocking out to The Grateful Dead
Where does the “Yeah” come from? ?Yeah Dave was my nickname growing up – I had a tendency in college to ask questions that didn’t have answers, so my friends stopped trying to answer and would say ‘yeah Dave…’ and it stuck.”
What are three words that describe you?"This is more my mantra than a description of myself, but I tell everyone in my life to make sure to have a beautiful, funny, delicious moment every day.”
What's your mantra? ?Every day, no matter what kind of a day you’re having, take a moment for yourself, a little vacation in your day, like a glass of wine – stop and enjoy it.”
Why Wine? “We all have crappy days. That is part of human mature. Problems arise if we don’t call a timeout, recharge our energy, and rally at the negativity with big energy. For many, that moment comes in a glass of wine… I see wine as a means to explore the present moment.”
What’s the last wine you drank/tasted? "An Old Vine Zinfandel at a yoga and chocolate workshop.”
Favorite wine region to visit? "Umbria, in Central Italy – the landscape is very real and authentic and old and pure and beautiful. We ate so much.”
We've heard you come from a Venetian family. What's your favorite Venetian dish? "Handmade gnocchi served with pomodoro sauce. My grandparents used to own a restaurant in Midtown NYC called Ca d'Oro. Their gnocchi pomodoro is one of my earliest memories."
What's your go-to food for a bad day pick-me-up? "The Vosges Haut-Chocolat Barcelona Bar. Milk chocolate, Fleur d'Sal sea salt, and almonds from Marcona, Spain. I've been using it for years in my Yoga + Chocolate workshops. THE B.E.S.T."
Any food highlights from your retreats in wine country? "I would have to say it was not a food highlight. Rather, Neil Peart, the drummer from Rush and arguably the greatest drummer of all time, came to our Sonoma Yoga + Wine retreat with his wife. They are serious foodies and it goes to show that to appreciate the subtleties and nuances of food (and music, and life), once must slow down, tune in, and BE PRESENT."