Salt Bae’s customers are 24-carat idiots who pay £1,500 to eat steak covered in gold leaf
HE’S the quirky chef who broke the internet when a video of him flamboyantly sprinkling salt down his forearm over a hunk of meat went viral.
Now Nusret Gokce, 38, known to his 39.5million Instagram followers as Salt Bae, has fans falling over themselves to lap up his £850 steaks and £100 burgers, which are wrapped in edible 24-carat gold leaf.
But Nusret’s extortionate menu at his new restaurant in West London’s affluent Knightsbridge — where a Coke will set you back £9 and a “gold-covered cappuccino” is £50 — has been panned by food critics.
Jay Rayner called it “ludicrous” and refused to dine there, choosing to scoff a kebab outside instead.
And fellow restaurant reviewer Jimi Famurewa described the food at Nusr-Et as “categorically bad”.
He went on to slam its clientele as: “Wealthy, bored-looking new parents, super-rich kids that always keep one AirPod in, tanned fifty-somethings with the air of suburban hot tub owners and groups of young aspirant influencer girls in swishy dresses.”
But there is no shortage of eager celebs queueing up to pay “mick-taking” prices for a steak dinner so they can brag about it on Instagram.
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One of the first to bag a table was reality star Gemma Collins, who ranked the experience “ten out of ten” despite nearly choking when she saw the £1,450 bill.
Former glamour model Danielle Lloyd treated herself to a £100 gold-wrapped burger, later admitting it was “really expensive” but worth it for “the experience”.
Another anonymous diner racked up an eye-watering £37,000 bill — nearly £5,000 of which was the service charge.
The Knightsbridge branch brings Nusret’s global stable of eateries to 15, with others scattered across the UAE, US, Turkey and the Greek island of Mykonos.
Despite being branded a “Mickey Mouse” chef by one Michelin-starred restaurateur, the Turkish butcher-turned-steakmonger certainly knows a thing or two about meat.
The son of an impoverished miner, he was born and raised in a suburb near Istanbul and taken on as a butcher’s apprentice at 13, having left school aged ten.
He slogged away in Turkish steakhouses for a decade before moving to Argentina and the beef capital of the world, Buenos Aires.
Having dreamed of making it as a chef, he opened his first Nusr-Et steakhouse in Istanbul in 2010, with just eight tables and ten employees.
His tasty food caught the eye of Turkish billionaire businessman Ferit Sahenk, who offered to invest, helping him open up more locations in the Middle East.
In 2017 he became an overnight sensation when singer Bruno Mars tweeted a screengrab of him performing his signature salt sprinkle, using it as a meme with the caption: “Annndddd I’m out.”
Nusret was dressed in a snug white T-shirt, black jeans and dark, gold-rimmed sunglasses — an outfit that has since become his trademark uniform, along with a chunky cigar.
Within 48 hours, the post had attracted 2.4million views. It has since been watched nearly 17million times and earned Nusret the nickname of “Instagram’s sexiest butcher”.
INSTAGRAM’S SEXIEST BUTCHER
TV host James Corden said his moves “Might be the most erotic thing I’ve ever seen”. Since then, Nusret has shared dozens more videos. A recent one shows him seductively gyrating as he dices rare-cooked steaks.
He once explained: “All of my feelings are coming from inside of the meat, down to when I put the salt on.”
Speaking about his seasoning technique, the ultra-toned chef told diners at one of his steakhouses: “The angle is important. Also, it’s important to have muscle.”
Celebrities including footballer David Beckham, actors Jason Statham and Al Pacino, opera singer Andrea Bocelli, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and supermodel Naomi Campbell have all been snapped getting their Salt Bae fix.
One Instagram post shows Oscar-winner Leonardo DiCaprio salivating as his overpriced tomahawk steak is showered with salt.
But not everyone thinks it is worth the money. Tech contractor and self-proclaimed millionaire Chiraag Suchak, 33, from London, gave a scathing verdict, saying he has “definitely had better” after spending £150.
The restaurant has also been accused of deleting bad reviews online after a slurry of them disappeared. But criticism has not stopped others jumping on the gold food bandwagon.
One Indian restaurant near London Bridge is now offering a 24-carat poppadom with a hefty £100 price tag. And the Relentless Steak And Lobster House in Portsmouth is going head-to-head with Salt Bae, flogging a 34oz tomahawk steak that feeds two people for £500 cheaper.
Owner Scott Matthews said Nusret is “taking the mick” and must be making a huge profit on his gilded steaks — especially as they “probably taste the same”.
Nusret’s rise to fame has brought huge wealth, and in 2019 he splashed £36million on the luxury Macka Palas hotel in Istanbul.
‘TAKING THE MICK’
He is also thought to have homes in the US and is often pictured by a private pool in Beverly Hills and riding horses on a ranch. He likes to travel in style, with one video of him featuring a pair of chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces worth more than £250,000 each. Another shows him disembarking from a private jet.
But there have also been lawsuits along the way. He had to pay a £4,500 fine after being accused of threatening a former employee back in 2015.
And in 2019 he was forced to shell out £166,600 to four ex-staff members at his Manhattan restaurant after he was accused of conning them out of tips.
His legal team “categorically denied” allegations of “unfair labour practices”, adding that some staff earn more than £72,000 in service charges annually.
Last year, Bloomberg reported that the owners of the Nusr-Et chain, Dogus Holdings, had to delay repayments on £2billion worth of debt. Mystery surrounds Nusret’s love life, but while he has claimed he is “so concentrated on meat” that he “doesn’t have time for a girlfriend”, he is certainly a ladies’ man.
Last week, Made In Chelsea star Sam Thompson, 29, told how Nusret shamelessly flirted with his girlfriend Zara McDermott, 24, when they visited, complimenting her on her “nice legs”.
And Nusret sparked a frenzy when he posted a picture of himself surrounded by nine children, leaving fans convinced they were all his when he captioned it: “The man who does not spend time with his family is not a real man.”
But his number one love affair remains meat, which he eats seven days a week — including first thing in the morning.
“I can’t finish my breakfast without either smoked meat or sausage,” he said.
Here's one we made at home
By Salt Hay
I LOVE a good burger, but there’s no chance I’d shell out 100 quid when I can get one for £15 with a free pint and chips down my local.
Admittedly it doesn’t come covered in gold like Salt Bae’s, but when Gemma Collins pointed out you can pick up edible foil on the internet for £4.99, I had an idea.
After a quick trip to the supermarket and a browse on Amazon, I was armed with the ingredients needed to recreate Salt Bae’s extravagant dishes.
Feeling flush after spending less than a fiver on two quarter-pounders, buns and cheese, I popped to my local butcher to pick up a juicy T-bone.
Applying the gold leaf to the steak was trickier than I expected (though I’m not sure it justifies the £630 price tag).
After trying, and failing, to transfer it with a pair of tweezers, I found the best way was to press the paper backing gold-side down on the steak and carefully peel it off – a technique I repeated to coat the burger bun.
After taking a moment to marvel over my shiny creation, I chucked the meat in a pan and cooked it to Nusret’s signature medium rare.
No Salt Bae dish would be complete without a sprinkle of seasoning. Lifting my arm into his famous cobra pose, I showered my steak with a generous handful salt, sending my dog running as most of it fell on the floor.
While the gold added zero value to the flavour, it certainly looked the business.
Just call me Salt Hay.
COSTINGS
Burgers: £1.50
Buns: £1
Cheese: £1.70
Gold leaf sheets: £14 for 30-pack
T-bone steak: £19 at butcher’s (though Sainsbury’s do a sirloin for £3.75)