Nusret Gökçe nicknamed Salt Bae to the world is a very famous Turkish butcher, chef, food entertainer and restaurateur whose very unique techniques of preparing and seasoning meat became an Internet meme in January 2017.
He owns Nusr-Et, which is basically a chain of extravagant steak houses. The name of his restaurant chain arrives from his very own name and “Et”, which means “meat” in Turkish. Also as of the year 2021, he has Nusr-Et branches in many countries such as Turkey, Greece, the United States, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia too.
Gökçe has been concerned with charitable work, such as building a school for needy children in his hometown of Erzurum.
Nusret’s Early Life
Nusret Gökçe was born in the year 1983 in a place called Erzurum to a Kurdish family. His father, Faik Gökçe, was a mineworker. Because of his family conditions, he was forced to leave school in the sixth grade (aged 11–12) to work as a butcher’s apprentice in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul. Because of the family’s finances, he had to support them at a very small age.
Nusret’s Journey
Gökçe became famous from a series of viral Internet videos and memes which were about his very impressive way of preparing & garnishing food. The videos show him “suavely” cutting meat and sprinkling salt. His fame came from a viral videos, such as “Ottoman Steak”, posted on 7 January 2017. This unique video exceeded 10 million views on Instagram which was beyond imagination. He was nicknamed “Salt Bae” especially because of his distinctive way of salting meat: dropping it from his fingertips to his forearm and then falling onto the dish. After this fame earned from this post, Gökçe’s profile has grown enormously. His restaurants, and Nusret himself, have served many celebrities and politicians around the globe.
Reviews By People Over Nusret’s Work
Despite having international stardom, early professional reviews in 2018 of his New York City steakhouse were commonly negative. The dishes which were served by Gökçe’s restaurants received mixed reviews and also have been described as “overpriced”.
Regardless, for entertainment, reviewers were more optimistic. Eater‘s Robert Sietsema states that “If you are intent on judging New York’s new branch of Nusr-Et only as a steakhouse, you’ll probably be dissatisfied while If, on the other hand, you appraise the area as a dinner theater, you will find it delightful—but only on a condition if Salt Bae is in the house”
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