Nusret Gökçe, better known asSalt Bae, is a Turkish butcher, chef, and restaurateur. Gökçe's technique for preparing and seasoning meat became an internet meme in January 2017.
He founded Nusr-Et, a chain of luxury steak houses.
As of 2021, Nusr-Et has branches in Turkey, Greece, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. The name of the restaurant chain comes from his own name and et, which means "meat" in Turkish.
Chef and internet career
Gökçe visited several countries, including Argentina and the United States, between 2007 and 2010, where he worked in local restaurants for free in order to gain experience as a cook and a restaurateur. After his return to Turkey, Gökçe opened his first restaurant in Istanbul in 2010, and later opened a Dubai restaurant in 2014.
In January 2017, Gökçe became more widely known as Salt Bae through a series of viral internet videos and memes that show him "suavely" cutting meat and sprinkling salt, such as "Ottoman Steak", posted on his restaurant's Twitter account. The post was viewed over 16 million times on Instagram, after which he was dubbed "Salt Bae" due to his peculiar way of sprinkling salt: dropping it from his fingertips to his forearm, and then onto the dish. Due to the viral exposure gained from this post, Gökçe's profile has expanded enormously and he has served many celebrities and politicians from around the world.
