Gaz Oakley, known as the Avant-Garde Vegan, is a

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

chef and cookbook author from Cardiff, Wales. He was described in the '' Daily Telegraph'' as "a star of the meat-free world", whose "recipes have gained the respect of herbivores and carnivores alike".

Career

Oakley, who grew up in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, was taught to cook as a child by his father, and got his first job in a kitchen aged 15. He left school at 16 to work in the kitchen full-time. For several years, he worked in hotel and restaurant kitchens in Cardiff. He then switched careers to work in a builder's yard, becoming a sales manager. The new job offered him more free time, and he took up fitness and

strength training Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...

activities. It was through this that he first started to move towards

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...

. After hearing a radio interview with the vegan musician Jme, Oakley looked up videos of

Gary Yourofsky Gary Yourofsky (; born August 19, 1970) is an American animal rights activist and lecturer. He has had a major influence on contemporary veganism. Yourofsky was sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) between the years 200 ...

, and it was these that encouraged him to switch to a vegan lifestyle. After success encouraging friends and family to transition to veganism, he decided to use his skills and experience in cookery as a form of vegan activism. He launched the @avantgardevegan Instagram page in February 2016, and, later that year, gave up his sales job to focus full-time on activism and cookery. The Avant-Garde Vegan

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel was launched at the end of the year. He went on to write several vegan cookbooks, as well as partner with The Vurger Co. and

Wagamama Wagamama (stylised as ''wagamama'') is a British restaurant chain, serving Asian food based on Japanese cuisine. History The first Wagamama was opened in 1992 in Bloomsbury, London, founded by Alan Yau, who subsequently created the Chinese re ...

to create vegan foods. Oakley told ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused his subscriber numbers to hit one million.

Books

*''Vegan 100'' (Quadrille Publishing, 2018) *''Vegan Christmas'' (Quadrille Publishing, 2018) *''Plants Only Kitchen'' (Quadrille Publishing, 2020)

References

External links

Official siteAvant Garde Vegan
on YouTube
Avant Garde Vegan
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley, Gaz Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Cardiff Welsh chefs British cookbook writers Chefs of vegan cuisine Vegan cookbook writers

Career

Books

References

Further reading

External links