It all began in 2017 with a single flick of the wrist. Nusret Gokce, already running a steakhouse in Turkey, posted a video of himself slicing meat with the precision of a samurai and finishing with that unforgettable flourish: salt cascading from his fingertips, bouncing off his forearm.
And the moment went more than just viral. The Internet baptised him Salt Bae, and suddenly dining wasn't just about eating, it was about watching a moustachioed chef perform culinary theatre.
But the Internet's most flamboyant butcher soon found himself carving through leaner times. He went from viral demi-god of steak and salt in 2017 to business closures, lawsuits, and the kind of public ridicule that leaves a brand reeling.
Let's start from the very beginning.
The Humble Origins
Born in 1983 in Erzurum, eastern Turkey, Nusret Gokce grew up in a modest household and left school early due to financial hardship. He was only 13.
His first steps into the food world were not in gilded dining rooms but as a teenage butcher's apprentice, learning the basics of carving and presentation.
By 2010, after years of graft and a stint abroad honing his craft, he scraped together enough to open his first small steakhouse in Istanbul.
The diner was far from the celebrity hotspots his brand later became known for, but it carried his signature style: dramatic slicing, attentive service, and an almost obsessive devotion to meat. This combination of theatre and flavour planted the seeds for the viral empire to come.
The 15 Minutes Of Fame
As the viral wave carried him forward, Gokce expanded at a dizzying pace. He opened his first Nusr-Et in Istanbul's Etiler in 2010, then branched into Dubai, Doha, New York, Beverly Hills, and London among others.
The guest list also exploded. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Rihanna, David Beckham, Drake, P Diddy, DJ Khaled and Odell Beckham Jr visited various Nusr-Et restaurants, drawn as much by the theatrical salt-sprinkling ritual as by the steaks.
Not only the restaurants, but the meme itself, Gokce slicing meat, then dramatically letting salt cascade from finger to forearm to steak, was everywhere, carried by retweets, reposts, image macros, and parodies.
Even now, Gokce has more than 53 million followers on Instagram, where he showcases his life.
But not all was glowing praise. Food critics in New York and beyond often described the taste as middling, portions inconsistent, and cooking uneven. Many diners questioned whether the spectacle alone justified sky-high prices, an issue that would only grow louder.
The World Cup Crash-Landing
Things went really wrong for Salt Bae in Qatar in 2022. After Argentina's nail-biting victory in the World Cup final, Salt Bae somehow made it past security and onto the pitch.
What followed was an awkward parade of forced photo ops: Gokce grabbing players, nudging for selfies, and even cradling the World Cup trophy, a move strictly reserved for winners and dignitaries.
Lionel Messi's face said it all. His discomfort became the Internet's delight, with memes flipping Salt Bae from quirky to cringe overnight. FIFA launched a review, and suddenly the man who once represented culinary cool was accused of clout-chasing at the highest level.
Gokce later called it "impulsive excitement and a mistake" and swore never to step on a World Cup pitch again. The damage, though, was permanent and Salt Bae was even banned from the US Open Cup final.
The Turning Tide
If the World Cup was the tipping point, the business cracks had already begun to show.
At first, Nusr-Et was untouchable. The Istanbul opening in 2010 built a loyal base, but the 2017 Ottoman Steak video catapulted Nusret Gokce into global stardom.
But the cracks appeared soon after New York's launch in January 2018. Local critics trashed the food: the New York Post called the the restaurant as "public rip-off" and GQ called Salt Bae as "meat mafia"
Despite queues outside, food credibility took its first blow.
In 2021, the London outpost turned the meme into a full-blown luxury circus. The opening month's headlines were dominated by viral bills: a single tomahawk steak costing Euro 630, a burger at Euro 100, and the infamous 24-karat gold-wrapped steak at Euro 1,450.
A shared receipt showing a bill of Euro 37,000 (Rs 38,71,606) for a single table triggered outrage online. Suddenly, what once looked glamorous now looked gaudy.
The backlash only snowballed. Customers complained of being rushed out after barely 90 minutes despite five-figure bills. Food quality was repeatedly criticised as inconsistent, with steaks arriving tough, "chewy or bland". Many diners claimed the theatrics outshone the actual flavour.
'One Crore Bill'
By 2022 and 2023, high-profile controversies reinforced the downturn. In Abu Dhabi, Salt Bae himself proudly shared a bill of AED 6,15,000 (Rs 1.47 crore), sparking fury at a time when the world was talking about inflation and inequality.
The London branch even cut its central heating to save on costs, making headlines again, but this time for all the wrong reasons.
The final dent came from ordinary diners rather than celebrities. On TripAdvisor, Instagram and TikTok, hundreds of posts mocked the value proposition: shaky videos of gold-plated steaks, receipts with eye-watering totals, and captions saying "never again." What began as a meme turned into a meme against him.
In the United States, closures mounted. By mid-2025, locations in Dallas, Boston, Las Vegas, and Beverly Hills had shut, leaving reportedly only New York and Miami still operating, a sharp contraction from his expansionary peak. London's flagship faced a steep financial comedown as well, with local chatter about turnover plunging by around 31 percent.
Lawsuits On The Side
As if public opinion wasn't enough, the courts added their own spice. From New York to Miami, lawsuits piled up-unpaid tips, wage disputes, discrimination claims, accusations of hostile management.
In 2019, his New York outlet settled a case over withheld tips. More claims followed in subsequent years, painting a picture of a brand more concerned with theatrics than fair treatment.
Company lawyers argued that many of the cases were exaggerated or settled without admission, but headlines stick.
The Attempted Reinvention
To his credit, Gokce hasn't packed up his knives. He has experimented with pivots, introducing Salt Bae Burgers in the UAE, eyeing airport outlets, and retooling menus to capture more casual diners.
In Dubai, his most famous outpost closed temporarily in August 2025 for renovations, marketed as a "Next Chapter." In particular, it is eyeing up Mexico City, where it plans to open a new steakhouse later.
In Turkey and the Middle East, his brand still carries prestige. Tourists still want their fifteen seconds of steak fame. But the days when Salt Bae could rely solely on meme-driven global hype are gone.
Nusret Gokce may yet carve a new chapter, but his story already stands as a cautionary tale of how internet stardom can create an empire overnight, and just as swiftly season it with ridicule.
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