CELEBRITY chef and gold-crusted steak mogul is facing a new wave of teasing concerning the success of his business.
The infamous Salt Bae has been the victim of yet another social media trolling – a viral video allegedly showing his New York restaurant desolate on a Friday night.
8Salt Bae took the world by storm with his viral salt throwing skills and has continued his iconic ‘salt life’ moves ever sinceCredit: Corbis – Getty
8Tiktoker @simonmetin shows what looks like the bizarrely empty inside of New York’s Nusr-EtCredit: TikTok @simonmetinSalt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, rose to fame in 2017 with a viral meme of his bizarre method of seasoning meat.
Armed with flaky salt and a giant tomahawk steak, he took the internet by storm and since then has expanded his portfolio of Instagrammable steak eateries – known as Nusr-Et – across the world.
His fortune is rumoured to be worth £40 million and his Instagram followers total 50 million, but the social media star has a potential new PR disaster on his hands.
TikToker Simon Metin recently released a video that shows him entering the notorious steakhouse at apparently 6pm on a Friday and appears to find the place empty of punters.
The British TikToker then makes fun of the restaurateur as he sifts through the eye-wateringly expensive menu. It is littered with $35 salads $85 starters, but the real excitement comes from the meat selection.
Steak prices range from around $100 to $1190 – depending on whether you want your steak wrapped in real gold.
The highest price belongs to the infamous “24 karat gold coated highly marble wagyu tomahawk” steak.
“Are my eyes deceiving me? No, these prices are real…” Metin writes as he shows his stunned face.
“Are these cows fed gold?” he asks.
Metin’s bio reads “UK lad in LA. I travel and eat stuff”, but at Salt Bae’s restaurant he did not even stay long enough to eat.
“Saltbae be trippin…I’m out faster than The Flash…” he says leaving the restaurant.
8Metin is stunned to discover the prices of Salt Bae’s famous gold-wrapped steakCredit: TikTok @simonmetin
8The social media star reportedly came from humble origins in Turkey where he dropped out of school and later worked as a butcher’s apprenticeThe video has been making waves in Salt Bae’s homeland as headlines ask: “Is Nasret going bankrupt?”.
The Turkish media have been concerned over how well his steak empire is really doing if one if its flagship restaurants lies empty during the busiest night of the week.
Another front page went with, “Is the restaurant of socialite butcher Nusret going bankrupt?”
In response to the video, TikTok users flocked to the comment section to make fun of the over-priced food selection and the man behind it.
“The most realistic food review of salt bae iv seen, glad you didn’t miss your mortgage payment for the meal,” one user quipped.
Another highly liked comment said: “he’s going out of business soon..hype is gone”.
A third said: “Man should’ve never embarrassed himself at the WC final smh”.
Startled by the menu prices, another said: “Meatball with cheese and Fries is $45, he has lost his damn mind.”
8Gökçe opened up shop in London in 2021 and has been absolutely coining it sinceCredit: Social Media – Refer to Source
8Rising to fame in 2007, Salt Bae’s steak empire continues to grow and expand into new countriesThe social media star travels between his global empire of gold leaf steaks on private jets, which includes his 15th spot in Knightsbridge that made £7million in its first four months
Yet, the London restaurant has suffered a string of poor reviews and staff have admitted to being paid as little as £10.50 an hour – one third the cost of a salad.
His luxurious lifestyle sees him cosying up to the rich and famous, jetting around the world and calling a mammoth-sized Istanbul penthouse his home.
Most recently, the once-butcher made his presence known at the World Cup when he joined the Argentinian team on the pitch as they celebrated their win.
The incident landed him in a hot media storm after videos emerged of him badgering Lionel Messi and grabbing the World Cup trophy.
Online users slammed Salt Bae for “lifting the World Cup without playing a match”, whilst FIFA later confirmed that the chef was not supposed to be allowed on the pitch and launched an investigation.
In the same month, the Turkish restaurateur was trolled for his rude table-side manner after a video circulated of him talking on Air Pods whilst serving a customer.
The angry customer had paid $500 for Salt Bae to personally carve his steak at the Nusr-Et in Doha, Qatar, but was disappointed when the muscleman’s attention lay elsewhere.
The unhappy Ehtisham Aziz rated the restaurant a dismal 1.7 out of 10.
However, Gökçe seems either unaware or unfazed by this negativity as he recently showed off his luxurious daily routine inside his Instabul palace penthouse on Instagram.
The “salt life” rocks on.
Gökçe and his team were contacted for comment on this story.
8The Turkish restaurant mogul celebrated with the Argentinian team as they won the World Cup leading to FIFA launching an investigationCredit: instagram
8Salt Bae is seen clutching the golden trophy- an image that sparked fury onlineCredit: instagram
Story Credit: thesun.co.uk