Brian Igarta, a chef, along with his his wife, Crystal DuBoyce, and daughter, Skye, have been living in Lane County for the past two years. Originally from Hawaii, Brian is a professionally trained chef. Crystal is a certified nutritional counselor.
Crystal was introduced to Ellen G. White’s book Counsels on Diet and Food, and studying about health and nutrition became a lifelong passion. Her passion, coupled with Brian's skills for creating art you can eat, became "The Maui Vegetarian," a family dedicated to making a positive difference in people's lives by feeding and teaching.
They originally arrived in Oregon to feed the 2012 training class of ARISE Institute in Jasper and decided to stay and set up shop in Eugene, first out of a mobile food truck and now in a sit-down café in the Eugene YMCA building.
The Igartas started attending the Eugene Church, which welcomed them with open arms. The church provided a venue for the couple to present cooking classes to the public using plant-based and gluten-free cooking methods. They have been conducting classes for the past 18 months to 30–90 guests monthly. Each class offers a specific cooking topic like breakfast, the “protein myth" and cooking vegetables and offers guests a taste of that evening’s fare, along with a handout of the recipes.
Recently, Crystal became the Eugene Church’s health ministries leader and has been planning many activities for 2015, including bringing the NEWSTART lifestyle program to Eugene, as well as Danny and Charmaine Vierra’s Modern Manna Ministries seminar. For more information about upcoming events, contact Crystal at 541-863-9706 or by email.
It is a full house for the cooking classes hosted by chef Brian Igarta and the Eugene Church.
Chef Brian Igarta demonstrates for the class.
