January 2013 Cover of Bon Appétit
Photo by Romulo Yanes, food styling by Rebecca Jurkevich, prop styling by Pamela Duncan Silver
I met him doing and assisting with gourmet cross-testing and he quickly took me under his wing after we bonded over our shared Cuban heritage. I can’t remember a specific moment on set, but I have a favorite cover art. Or two. One is a pizza cake and the other is a beautiful pork chop sizzling in a cast iron with butter, garlic, and herbs. My memory says we shot all night searching hundreds of pizzas and pork chops to get those two shots. Obviously not the case, but maybe obvious.
Rome was gentle, friendly, quick-witted, and had a sharp tongue. He was always joking and sharing beautiful pictures. We lost a very good soul. –Rebecca Jurkevich, Food stylist
Cheese photo for the March 2012 issue of Bon Appétit
Photo by Romulo Yanes, food styling by Alison Attenborough, prop styling by Beverley Hyde
We always had fun at work and he always jokingly called me Lady A. He’d drive me crazy styling Christmas candies and tweaking them so I would leave him with that and let his inner food stylist come out! But we had a lot of fun with cheese and assembling it – I think we worked on a nice cheese story for Bon Appètit. And also one with parmesan stock.
He worked at Condé Nast for 20 years and his work was his life. He wanted to work until the end. I think especially during COVID, working was a way for all of us to feel more normal. He took some nice pictures and was always passionate about his work. And he was an inspiration to many young photographers. –Alison Attenborough, Food stylist
February 2006 Cover of Gourmet Magazine
Photo by Romulo Yanes, food styling by Maggie Ruggiero, prop styling by Julia Garcia-Tobar.
Romulo was a great employee. He thought about every element in a photo and kept us rolling down the aisles with his very wicked humor the whole time. Its trademark was the use of a roll of bounty paper towels to bounce light; In fact, he had several tricks up his sleeve with Bounty. Bounty was his muse. –Maggie Ruggiero, Food stylist
Ice cream photo for the August 2009 issue of Gourmet magazine
Photo by Romulo Yanes, food styling by Maggie Ruggiero, prop styling by Haley Thurshwell
He was generous and helpful with me, even though we didn’t work together that often. But it felt like we had always known each other in our working lives. –Susie Theodorou, Food stylist
He was wonderful, kind, and popular. A strong and talented pillar at Gourmet for many years. I consider myself lucky to have met and worked with him. It’s heartbreaking that someone who loved them had to be taken away so quickly. –Erika Oliveira, Art director, gourmet
