Yuda Abitbol
Chef · Forager · Educator · Hawaiʻi
Born into the Land
Yuda Abitbol was born in Kahaluʻu, Oʻahu in 1992. He grew up surrounded by the kind of land most people drive past — forests full of edible plants, shorelines with wild things growing at the margin, a whole food system hiding in plain sight.
At 19, he nearly died after being invited to forage angel trumpet flowers — a near-fatal encounter that became the foundation of everything. Instead of retreating, it pulled him deeper. He spent the next decade learning every plant, mushroom, and seasonal system in Hawaiʻi's forests — not from books, but from the forest itself.
He trained as a chef. He built a career in kitchens. And then he started bringing both worlds together — teaching people to see food not as something that arrives packaged, but as something that grows, in place, with meaning.
What Follow the Wai Teaches
Plant Identification
How to correctly identify edible, medicinal, and toxic species — the foundational skill that makes everything else possible. Taught with precision and respect for the stakes.
Wild Mushrooms
Hawaii has a rich and underappreciated fungal world. Yuda teaches mushroom ecology, identification, seasonal patterns, and how to cook with what you find.
Culinary Application
Finding something is only half of it. Every experience ends with practical knowledge about how to cook, preserve, ferment, and build flavor from wild ingredients.
Ethical Harvesting
Responsible foraging means understanding ecosystems, taking only what's needed, and leaving the land better than you found it. This runs through every experience.
90 Days of Wild Food
In 2024, Yuda completed a 90-day challenge — eating only what he could hunt, fish, farm, forage, or trade with others doing the same. Not a stunt. A statement.
Hawaii imports over 80% of its food. Residents pay some of the highest grocery prices in the nation. Yuda wanted to prove — and live — a different way of relating to food sovereignty. He documented every day on Instagram, reaching millions of people who had never thought about where their food actually comes from.
Hawaii Public Radio covered it. The challenge drove thousands of new people to Follow the Wai. And it deepened his knowledge in ways that show up in every class he teaches today.
What They're Saying
"Abitbol was born in Kahaluʻu in 1992. He embodies the essence of island cuisine — connecting the food he makes to the nature that surrounds him."
— Seager Co."A forager-chef whose practice bridges wilderness survival and haute cuisine. His origin story centers on a near-fatal poisoning incident that catalyzed his obsession with plant knowledge."
— HiLuxury"Chef Yuda Abitbol completed a challenge where he only ate what he could hunt, farm, fish or forage — right down to the spices."
— Hawaiʻi Public RadioCome Learn From the Land
Small groups. Real food. Knowledge you'll carry for the rest of your life.