Gaz Oakley facts for kids

Gaz Oakley, also known as the Avant-Garde Vegan, is a chef and author from Cardiff, Wales. He is famous for creating amazing vegan food. People have called him a "star of the meat-free world" because his recipes are loved by everyone, whether they eat meat or not!

Career

Gaz Oakley grew up in Cardiff. His dad taught him how to cook when he was a child. He got his first job in a kitchen at just 15 years old. When he turned 16, he left school to work in kitchens full-time. For several years, he cooked in hotels and restaurants around Cardiff.

Later, Gaz decided to try something different. He started working at a builder's yard as a sales manager. This new job gave him more free time. He used this time to get into fitness and strength training. Through his fitness journey, he started thinking about veganism. He heard a radio interview with a vegan musician named Jme. This made Gaz curious, so he watched videos by Gary Yourofsky. These videos inspired him to become vegan himself.

After going vegan, Gaz successfully encouraged his friends and family to try it too. He decided to use his cooking skills to help more people learn about vegan food. In February 2016, he launched his Instagram page, @avantgardevegan. Later that year, he left his sales job to focus completely on vegan cooking and sharing his message. His YouTube channel, Avant-Garde Vegan, started at the end of 2016. Gaz shared that during the COVID-19 pandemic, his YouTube channel grew a lot and reached one million subscribers!

Gaz has written several popular vegan cookbooks. He has also worked with food companies like The Vurger Co. and Wagamama to create vegan dishes for their menus. In 2023, a magazine called VegNews named Gaz Oakley as one of the "37 Creative Chefs Crafting the Future of Vegan Food." In 2024, they also listed his book Vegan 100 as one of the "Top 100 Vegan Cookbooks of All Time."

Books

Gaz Oakley has written these vegan cookbooks:

• Vegan 100 (published in 2018)
• Vegan Christmas (published in 2018)
• Plants Only Kitchen (published in 2020)