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Gaz Oakley is a vegan chef, author and social media sensation, with more than 440,000 YouTube subscribers, and almost quarter of a million followers on Instagram.
In this exclusive interview with Plant Based News‘ Robbie Lockie, Oakley opens up about his love for food, his upcoming cookbook, and his plans to open a vegan restaurant.
The star – who has been described as the UK’s most influential vegan YouTube creator – has major plans for the upcoming months, which he shared in this podcast.
Foodie
Talking about his deep love of cooking, Oakley describes how he worked in a kitchen for a week doing work experience – and learned so much that he was desperate to leave school and work full-time, which he did aged 16.
Inspired by top names like Marco Pierre White and Gordon Ramsey, his goal was always to become the ‘best chef possible’.
“I was so determined and felt that I would miss out on so much knowledge if I stayed in school…I wanted to become the youngest chef ever with a Michelin Star,” he adds.
PBN’s Robbie Lockie interviews Gaz Oakley
Vegan
Oakley originally ditched animal products in a bid to improve his health, but after watching a number of animal rights documentaries, he embraced a fully-vegan lifestyle.
Now he wants to spread this influence further – tackling Christmas dinner tables across the country. “I realized how important Christmas – and the festive period in general – is to people,” he says.
“Being vegan people think you’re going to have a rubbish Christmas filled with boring food, but that’s so untrue.”
Book
This realization led Oakley to pen his second book – Vegan Christmas, which he says he is ‘so pleased’ with – adding that he ‘can’t wait’ for people to see it.
The book, which will be released in the UK in September and other countries in October, contains 70 recipes – which Oakley says are good any time of year, and will work for meat eaters as well as veggies and vegans.
The future
Looking further into the future, Oakley shares his plans to open a restaurant – adding that it is one of the questions he is asked most.
“I’ve said when I hit a million subscribers I’ll announce where I’m opening my first restaurant,” he told PBN. “I’m in no rush to do that because I understand…what it takes to run a restaurant.
“But to be able to feed people and spread my activism through food, and people eating it, would be a dream.”
