Dustin Toshiyuki, Sommelier/Assistant Wine Director, Ungrafted, San Francisco (USA)

Years in Industry:
My first industry position was around this time of year, 10 years ago. Back in the day, I was primarily working as a pre and post-production sound designer/engineer for a small, burgeoning film company in San Francisco that some close friends and I from high school and college had formed. One of our 'sets' was a local wine bar that we used for various shoots. I was extremely interested in wine but didn't know much about it and the owner, who was very kind and let us film in his businesses practically for free, hired me as a part-time bartender; a gig that helped me pay the bills as well as provide the first steps in the journey that I'm traveling today.

My Top Three Challenges to Wellness:
For me, when I take a moment and reflect upon how I can be better at what I do in a more sustainable way, and the main challenges that I personally face, three things come to mind: self-control, balance, and rest.

1. I am so fortunate to work in a busy restaurant with an incredible wine program. In certain situations, some of the biggest advantages that I have can quickly transform into disadvantages, if I let my self-control waiver. Access to wine is one of the best examples that comes to mind. Wine is everywhere, and I mean, everywhere! I'm opening bottles constantly throughout service and I taste each and every bottle to ensure its quality.

Most of the time, I spit, but admittedly, this isn't always the case. Wine has always been a comfort for me and enjoying a glass of wine has been something that I've always loved to do. On a busy and hectic night of service, there are many triggers for that need to feel good or to feel comfortable: a difficult guest, a demanding section, more requests than I have time to fill, etc. Each challenging situation chips away at my wall of self-control. Sometimes those tastes turn into sips and those sips can add up over time. By the end of a busy service I can be physically exhausted and that feeling is compounded by a long night of tasting wine. It's something that I'm constantly working on. I feel fortunate to have enough experience at this point in time, not to let things get out of hand. And the solution seems simple enough; however, certain circumstances can really put one's self-control to the test.

2. Secondly, the desire for balance is a recurring theme that I find in almost everything that I do. During the pandemic lockdown of 2020, I was studying for my Court of Master Sommeliers Advanced exam. During lockdown, one of the silver linings of such a depressing situation, I thought, was all the extra time that I had on my hands to study. Before I knew it, I was going down deep rabbit holes of information and trying to absorb and memorize everything that I could get my hands on. I felt so defeated six months later when I could only recall a fraction of what I had committed to memory in the past.

Close study partners and mentors kept telling me, "Know a little about a lot, and not the other way around." I have an 'all or nothing,' sort of personality, which didn't help, because I feel as if I'd always be missing something if I didn't go deep enough. Over time, one of the biggest things that I learned was how vitally important it is to find a balance, no matter how big or small the goals. I feel strongly that finding a balance in studying is what helped me to eventually pass the exam and learning that lesson was far more important than all of the wine factoids and knowledge that I was able to absorb.

3. Lastly, rest, so that I can do it all again. My optimal time of creativity seems to start in the later part of the evening; I've always been that way for whatever reason. It's so easy for me to start reading, researching something, or beginning on a new project at the worst possible time -- when I need to go to bed. Sometimes, after getting home late at night after a crazy service, I just need to wind-down for another hour and find myself getting caught up in something and staying up way too late. Getting rest is the best defense that I have; it helps me to make healthier decisions and getting enough of it is a constant goal. I know I'm not alone here!

How I Keep It Together to Stay Well:
Practicing acceptance, kindness, and forgiveness toward myself on my journey is important. Quiet moments help me to keep it together. That half-hour in the morning when I am enjoying a delicious cup of coffee and reading a book, not related to work, just for pleasure. Only ten minutes a day of meditation really does wonders for me. I find myself working on a daily basis just to squeeze these simple things into my daily routine because they have such profound benefits. I'd love to say that these simple things are a part of my daily routine, but I'm not quite there yet. Sometimes I'm able to keep it together, and sometimes I'm not; like life it ebbs and flows.

What Inspires Me:
Parents of the industry! At this point in my life, married for a little over a year, and definitely family-minded, I think about what's ahead for me and I also think about all of the hard working parents out there. People like my mentors Rebecca Fineman and Chris Gaither (who own Ungrafted and just had a second baby...); I see them and constantly wonder to myself, how the heck do you do it?! How can you own a business in an extremely competitive/ridiculously high-cost place like the Bay Area and raise a family and still be a functioning human being? I find it incredibly inspiring, how hard they and many parents like them have to work to succeed here. In my brain, it just doesn't compute, yet they do it!

A Quote I Love:
Okay, please don't laugh even though I know you will (and because I'm also laughing at myself right now), because this is from a song by the Red Hot Chili Peppers called 'Scar Tissue.' I've loved this band for the longest time and for whatever reason this lyric has always stuck with me so here goes:

"Soft spoken with a broken jaw
Step outside but not to brawl and
Autumn's sweet, we call it fall
I'll make it to the moon if I have to crawl and"

Not everything in life has to be profound, sometimes you just need to have fun with it. You can take that quote from me!

You can connect with Dustin on Instagram @dustin_toshiyuki