Who Is Salt Bae? Viral Fame and Nusr-Et Restaurants

Updated August 2026

Salt Bae is the nickname of Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish butcher, chef, restaurateur, and social-media personality who became famous in January 2017 after a video showed him slicing a steak and dramatically sprinkling salt from his fingertips, down his forearm, and onto the meat.

His appearance, precise knife work, sunglasses, slicked-back hair, fitted white shirt, and unusual salting pose turned a simple steak video into one of the first major internet memes of 2017.

However, Salt Bae was not an unknown person who opened a restaurant after becoming viral. Gökçe had already spent years working as a butcher and had opened the first Nusr-Et steakhouse in Istanbul in 2010. His internet fame accelerated the international growth of a restaurant concept that was already operating before the meme appeared.

Nusr-Et restaurants combine luxury steaks with tableside carving, energetic service, dramatic presentations, music, celebrity culture, and highly shareable social-media moments. Signature dishes include Lokum tenderloin, Nusr-Et Special, tomahawk steak, meat sushi, tableside steak tartare, and pistachio baklava served with Maraş ice cream.

The restaurants have attracted athletes, actors, musicians, influencers, tourists, and customers interested in experiencing the famous Salt Bae performance. They have also received criticism over high prices, mixed professional reviews, controversial publicity, and the idea that the spectacle can sometimes receive more attention than the food.

Salt Bae at a Glance

Who Is Nusret Gökçe?

Nusret Gökçe was born in a small village in Erzurum in eastern Türkiye. His father worked as a miner, and his family later moved to Istanbul.

According to his official biography, financial difficulties led him to leave school in the sixth grade. He began working as an apprentice in a butcher shop at approximately 13 years old.

He spent years learning:

• How to identify different cuts of meat
• How to trim and portion beef
• How to use knives efficiently
• How meat should be stored
• How different cuts respond to cooking
• How a butcher shop operates
• How meat can be presented to customers

Before becoming famous online, Gökçe had already built much of his identity around butchery, meat preparation, and personal service. His official history says he traveled to Argentina and the United States during 2008 and 2009 to learn from countries with established steak and meat cultures.

How Did Nusr-Et Begin?

Gökçe returned to Türkiye and opened the first Nusr-Et restaurant in Istanbul in 2010 with business partner Mithat Erdem.

The original Etiler restaurant was much smaller than the luxury locations associated with the brand today. Nusr-Et describes it as beginning with only 10 tables and 10 employees.

The menu focused on carefully cut meat, different cooking techniques, and simple accompaniments. The service was more distinctive. Gökçe personally visited tables, cut meat in front of customers, and turned serving steak into a performance.

The restaurant developed lines and gained attention through word of mouth. In 2012, Nusr-Et joined the d.ream restaurant group, part of Doğuş Group. Its first international restaurant opened in Dubai in 2014.

This timeline is important because the Salt Bae meme did not create Nusr-Et from nothing. The restaurant concept had already been operating for several years and had expanded outside Türkiye before Gökçe became internationally famous.

How Did Salt Bae Become Viral?

Salt Bae became globally famous after posting a short video commonly known as “Ottoman Steak” in January 2017.

The video showed Gökçe:

1. Standing beside a large piece of meat
2. Using long, smooth knife movements to cut it
3. Separating the slices with precise hand motions
4. Raising his arm above the steak
5. Dropping salt from his fingertips
6. Allowing the salt to bounce from his bent forearm onto the meat

The clip spread across Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, news sites, and meme pages. A still image of the salting pose became instantly recognizable and was used in jokes about adding a final touch, showing off, being dramatic, or doing more than necessary.

Contemporary reporting described the video as a combination of food imagery, performance, humor, confidence, and visual charm. The original post accumulated millions of views, while reposts and parodies extended its reach far beyond Gökçe’s existing restaurant audience.

Why Did the Salt Bae Video Become So Popular?

1. The Pose Was Instantly Recognizable

The salt-sprinkling movement was unusual enough to be remembered after seeing it once.

The bent elbow, raised hand, and falling salt created a recognizable silhouette that could be copied in photographs, illustrations, advertisements, costumes, and parody videos.

2. The Video Did Not Require Language

A viewer did not need to understand Turkish or read a long explanation.

The basic action was universally understandable:

• A butcher cuts steak.
• He adds salt.
• He performs the action with extreme confidence.

This allowed the clip to spread between countries and languages with very little explanation.

3. It Was Short and Easy to Share

The video was brief enough to watch repeatedly and share immediately.

Its most important moment could also be captured in one still image, making it suitable for both video platforms and image-based memes.

4. Gökçe Had a Distinctive Appearance

His slicked-back hair, sunglasses, white shirt, facial expression, and controlled movements created a character that viewers could recognize.

Salt Bae did not look like an ordinary cooking instructor. He looked like a combination of butcher, performer, fashion character, and action-film figure.

5. The Video Was Both Serious and Funny

Part of the appeal was that viewers could not always tell how seriously they were supposed to take the performance.

Gökçe appeared completely committed to the movement, while the exaggerated style made it funny and easy to parody.

6. It Turned Cooking into Entertainment

The clip was not built around a complicated recipe. It focused on motion, personality, meat, and presentation.

Viewers were watching a performance as much as they were watching food preparation.

7. People Could Copy It

A successful meme often gives the audience something simple to recreate.

People copied the Salt Bae pose while adding:

• Salt
• Sugar
• Spices
• Confetti
• Paper
• Money
• Sports equipment
• Everyday objects

Restaurants, athletes, celebrities, television shows, and ordinary social-media users could participate in the joke.

8. The Meme Connected to a Real Business

Salt Bae was not only a fictional internet character. Viewers could visit one of his restaurants and potentially see the performance in person.

This allowed online attention to become:

• Restaurant reservations
• International media coverage
• Celebrity visits
• New restaurant openings
• Branded merchandise
• Millions of social-media followers

What Is Nusr-Et Steakhouse?

Nusr-Et is a luxury steakhouse brand built around premium meat, tableside service, dramatic presentation, and a high-energy atmosphere.

The restaurants generally offer a combination of:

• Steaks and large sharing cuts
• Wagyu and premium beef options
• Lamb
• Burgers
• Beef carpaccio
• Steak tartare
• Seafood starters
• Salads and steakhouse sides
• Baklava and other desserts

The company presents Nusr-Et as more than a place to purchase steak. Its official website describes the restaurants as sensory experiences built around flavors, crowds, presentations, and shows.

What Are Nusr-Et Restaurants Like?

Tableside Steak Cutting

Many cuts are brought to the table and sliced in front of the customers.

The server may rotate the cutting board, display the meat, remove the bone, create individual portions, and season the steak while guests record the presentation.

Dramatic Service

Servers are part of the entertainment. The movements are often fast, precise, and designed to look impressive in person and on camera.

High-Energy Atmosphere

Some locations combine formal restaurant design with louder music, busy dining rooms, celebrity guests, and a nightlife-influenced atmosphere.

Luxury Positioning

Nusr-Et restaurants are commonly located in major cities, luxury hotels, shopping districts, vacation destinations, and neighborhoods associated with expensive dining.

Social-Media-Friendly Presentation

The tableside actions are intentionally easy to photograph and record.

Popular visual moments include:

• The salt sprinkle
• Large tomahawk steaks
• Steak sliced tableside
• Butter poured over meat
• Meat sushi
• Baklava cut and served with ice cream
• Edible-gold presentations at selected locations

What Food Is Nusr-Et Famous For?

Lokum

Lokum is one of Nusr-Et’s signature dishes.

The restaurant describes it as thinly sliced premium tenderloin that is grilled and served warm. The name refers to the meat’s soft, tender texture, similar to the idea of Turkish delight melting in the mouth.

Nusr-Et Special

Nusr-Et Special is a steak served sizzling with melted butter and bread.

Its tableside preparation adds sound, movement, aroma, and visual drama to the dish.

Tomahawk Steak

The tomahawk is a large bone-in ribeye with a long rib bone.

Its size makes it appropriate for sharing and especially effective for tableside carving and social-media videos.

Nusr-Et Sushi

Nusr-Et Sushi is not traditional Japanese sushi.

The restaurant’s version combines sliced New York strip steak with sushi rice, avocado cream, crispy potato, and Parmesan.

Steak Tartare

The steak tartare is prepared tableside with hand-cut beef, Dijon mustard, capers, chile sauce, Cognac, crispy potato, and olive oil.

Shaslik

Shaslik consists of skewered or specially presented pieces of tender meat. It is one of the charcoal-grilled dishes highlighted by the brand.

Golden Baklava

Nusr-Et serves pistachio baklava produced in Gaziantep, Türkiye, with Maraş-style ice cream.

The dessert is often cut, opened, filled, and portioned at the table, continuing the restaurant’s performance-based approach through the final course.

What Is the Gold Steak?

Nusr-Et became especially famous for serving large steaks wrapped or covered in edible gold at selected restaurants.

Edible gold has little flavor. Its purpose is primarily visual and symbolic. It turns an already expensive steak into a luxury-status product designed for celebrations, publicity, and social-media sharing.

Gold-covered steaks helped strengthen Salt Bae’s reputation for extreme restaurant prices. Some guests considered the dishes fun and memorable, while critics viewed them as examples of unnecessary excess.

The availability, cut, portion, and price of gold-covered dishes vary by restaurant and menu. Customers should review the current menu rather than assume every Nusr-Et location serves the same version.

Where Are Salt Bae’s Restaurants?

The current official Nusr-Et directory lists named steakhouse destinations across Türkiye, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Mexico.

Nusr-Et’s website also markets the broader brand as having more than 20 restaurants in eight countries. Exact totals can differ depending on whether directories, seasonal destinations, burger concepts, or other operating formats are included.

What Happened to Salt Bae’s Restaurants in the United States?

Nusr-Et expanded rapidly in the United States after Salt Bae became viral, opening restaurants in cities including New York, Miami, Boston, Dallas, Las Vegas, and Beverly Hills.

The chain later reduced its American footprint. By June 2025, industry reporting said the Beverly Hills closure would leave only New York and Miami operating in the United States. Restaurants in Dallas, Las Vegas, Boston, and another New York location had also closed.

Nusr-Et described the change as a shift toward international markets and destinations aligned with travel demand and regional opportunities. Its current official directory continues to list New York and Miami as its two United States steakhouse locations.

The contraction shows that viral fame can create awareness and initial demand, but individual restaurants still have to manage rent, labor, pricing, competition, repeat customers, and local market conditions.

Why Are Nusr-Et Restaurants So Expensive?

Nusr-Et’s pricing reflects several parts of the business model.

Premium Meat

Large tomahawk steaks, tenderloin, Wagyu beef, and other premium cuts are expensive ingredients before labor or restaurant expenses are added.

Prime Locations

The restaurants frequently operate in luxury hotels, fashionable neighborhoods, resort destinations, and major international cities with high occupancy costs.

Tableside Labor

Preparing and presenting dishes at the table requires trained employees and more service time than simply placing a finished plate in front of the customer.

Luxury Design

Large dining rooms, bars, specialty lighting, custom furniture, meat displays, and premium finishes add to opening and operating expenses.

Brand Value

Customers are paying partly for access to the Salt Bae brand and the possibility of seeing a famous performance.

Entertainment

The restaurants combine food with music, service choreography, carving, photography, and spectacle.

Social Status

Some expensive menu items are designed to function as status purchases. Their appeal comes from being rare, dramatic, recognizable, and costly.

Does Salt Bae Personally Serve Every Table?

No. Nusret Gökçe does not personally work at every Nusr-Et location every day.

The brand has expanded its service style by training employees to reproduce parts of the experience, including tableside slicing, dramatic movements, meat presentation, and dessert service.

When Gökçe visits a restaurant, his appearance can create additional excitement and customer videos. However, diners should not assume he will be present simply because they have reserved a table at Nusr-Et.

Is Salt Bae a Real Chef?

Yes, although his background is more specifically connected to butchery, meat preparation, restaurant ownership, and performance service.

He worked in butcher shops for years before opening Nusr-Et. He also traveled to learn more about international meat and steak cultures before establishing his restaurant.

His public reputation focuses less on developing complicated tasting menus and more on:

• Selecting and cutting meat
• Grilling steaks
• Tableside carving
• Restaurant hospitality
• Visual presentation
• Personal branding

Calling him only an internet celebrity ignores the restaurant and butchery experience he had before 2017. Calling him only a chef ignores how central performance and social media became to his success.

Did Salt Bae Make Nusr-Et Famous, or Did Nusr-Et Make Salt Bae Famous?

Both contributed to the other.

Nusr-Et gave Gökçe:

• A professional setting for his videos
• High-quality steaks to present
• Customers who could record the service
• An existing reputation in Türkiye and Dubai
• A business capable of using sudden publicity

Salt Bae gave Nusr-Et:

• A recognizable human face
• A global nickname
• A repeatable gesture
• International media attention
• Celebrity interest
• Social-media content that customers could recreate

The strongest part of the business strategy was the connection between the personality and the restaurant. People could see the meme online and then purchase an in-person version of it at Nusr-Et.

Why Do Celebrities Visit Nusr-Et?

Nusr-Et became a popular celebrity destination because it combines recognizable food with an event-like experience.

Famous guests may receive:

• A private or highly visible table
• Tableside steak preparation
• A personal visit from Salt Bae when he is present
• Photographs and videos designed for social media
• Large sharing steaks and premium bottles
• An energetic atmosphere suitable for celebrations

Celebrity visits then create more publicity for the restaurant. The customer receives content and attention, while the restaurant receives exposure to the celebrity’s audience.

Why Has Salt Bae Been Criticized?

High Menu Prices

Nusr-Et has frequently attracted attention for expensive steaks, beverages, and edible-gold dishes.

Some customers view the price as part of a luxury entertainment experience. Others believe the food does not always justify the cost.

Mixed Restaurant Reviews

Several early professional reviews of the New York restaurant argued that the spectacle was more memorable than the cooking and value.

At the same time, the restaurants continued to attract customers interested in the atmosphere, tableside show, and cultural experience surrounding Salt Bae.

Attention-Seeking Public Appearances

Gökçe has sometimes faced criticism for placing himself inside major sporting and celebrity events.

After the 2022 FIFA World Cup final, he entered the field, approached Argentina’s players, and handled the trophy. FIFA later said individuals had gained improper access and investigated how it happened.

Restaurant Closures

Closures in several United States cities created questions about whether online fame could support all of the brand’s expensive locations over the long term.

However, Nusr-Et continues to operate internationally and has added destinations such as Milan and Mexico City to its official directory.

Why Did the Salt Bae Brand Last Longer Than Most Memes?

Most viral memes disappear because they are not attached to a product, location, or lasting customer experience.

Salt Bae had several advantages:

He Already Had Restaurants

He could turn online attention into reservations immediately.

He Owned a Repeatable Performance

The gesture could be performed at every location and in every video.

The Content Produced Itself

Every customer who recorded a steak presentation created new advertising for the restaurant.

The Restaurants Offered Physical Access to the Meme

Guests could participate in something they had previously only seen online.

The Brand Was Easy to Recognize

The sunglasses, white shirt, salt gesture, steak, and restaurant name created a consistent visual identity.

The Concept Worked with Celebrity Culture

A celebrity eating at Nusr-Et created content for both the celebrity and the restaurant.

Luxury Created Conversation

Even criticism of expensive steaks generated attention and encouraged people to discuss the brand.

What Can Restaurant Owners Learn from Salt Bae?

Create a Recognizable Signature

A restaurant benefits when customers can describe one dish, presentation, or service moment that belongs specifically to the brand.

Make Food Visually Interesting

Attractive carving, plating, garnishing, and tableside service can encourage organic customer content.

Keep the Concept Easy to Understand

Salt Bae’s message was simple: steak, confidence, craftsmanship, and showmanship.

Develop the Business Before Chasing Fame

Nusr-Et already had restaurants, employees, suppliers, and operating experience when the video became viral.

Turn Attention into a Product

Views alone do not create a sustainable business. Nusr-Et converted attention into reservations, meals, events, and international expansion.

Do Not Depend Entirely on Novelty

A viral moment may create an initial rush, but restaurants still need good operations, cost control, employee training, quality consistency, and repeat customers.

Understand the Difference Between Attention and Loyalty

Customers may visit once for a photograph. A restaurant needs food, service, pricing, and hospitality strong enough to make some of those customers return.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Salt Bae?

Salt Bae is Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish butcher, chef, restaurateur, and social-media personality known for the Nusr-Et steakhouse brand.

What is Salt Bae’s real name?

His real name is Nusret Gökçe.

Why is he called Salt Bae?

Social-media users gave him the nickname after his dramatic salt-sprinkling movement became a viral meme in 2017.

When did Salt Bae become famous?

He became internationally famous in January 2017 after posting the Ottoman Steak video.

What did Salt Bae do in the viral video?

He sliced a steak and sprinkled salt from his raised fingertips so it bounced down his forearm and onto the meat.

Was Nusr-Et open before Salt Bae became viral?

Yes. The first Nusr-Et restaurant opened in Istanbul in 2010, approximately seven years before the viral video.

Where was the first Nusr-Et restaurant?

The first location opened in Etiler, Istanbul.

When did Nusr-Et expand outside Türkiye?

Its first international restaurant opened in Dubai in 2014.

What type of restaurant is Nusr-Et?

Nusr-Et is a luxury steakhouse that combines premium meat with tableside carving, dramatic presentations, music, and a lively atmosphere.

What is Nusr-Et’s most famous dish?

Its best-known foods include Lokum, Nusr-Et Special, tomahawk steak, meat sushi, steak tartare, and baklava.

What is Nusr-Et Lokum?

Lokum is thinly sliced grilled tenderloin known for its soft texture.

What is the Nusr-Et Special?

It is a steak served sizzling with melted butter and bread, often finished at the table.

Does Salt Bae serve gold steak?

Selected Nusr-Et restaurants have become famous for steaks covered in edible gold. Availability and pricing vary by location.

Does edible gold have a flavor?

Edible gold generally contributes appearance and luxury positioning rather than a strong flavor.

Is Salt Bae at every Nusr-Et restaurant?

No. He travels between locations and events, so customers should not expect him to be present during every visit.

Is Salt Bae actually a butcher?

Yes. He began working as a butcher’s apprentice as a teenager and spent years learning meat preparation before opening Nusr-Et.

Is Salt Bae a chef?

Yes. He is commonly described as a chef, although his specialty is strongly connected to butchery, steaks, tableside service, and restaurant presentation.

How many Nusr-Et restaurants are there?

The company markets the broader brand as having more than 20 restaurants, while its current official steakhouse directory lists 17 named destinations. Totals may differ according to the concepts and locations being counted.

Where are the United States Nusr-Et restaurants?

The current official directory lists New York and Miami.

Why did some Nusr-Et restaurants close?

Restaurant Dive reported that the company reduced its United States footprint while shifting attention toward international growth and markets with different travel and customer opportunities.

Why is Nusr-Et expensive?

Prices reflect premium meat, large portions, luxury locations, restaurant design, tableside labor, entertainment, and the value attached to the Salt Bae brand.

Is Nusr-Et only popular because of social media?

Social media played a major role in its international growth, but the original restaurant had already developed a following before the viral video.

Can customers copy the Salt Bae pose?

Many guests pose or pretend to sprinkle salt for photographs. Employees should still handle real food and seasoning according to the restaurant’s procedures.

Did Salt Bae touch the World Cup trophy?

Yes. He was photographed holding the trophy after the 2022 final. FIFA later investigated how he gained access to the field.

Is Salt Bae still famous?

Yes. The original meme is no longer new, but Gökçe remains a highly recognizable restaurant personality, and Nusr-Et continues to operate internationally.

Final Thoughts

Salt Bae is Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish butcher and restaurateur who transformed one distinctive service movement into a global personal brand.

His viral fame began in January 2017 when viewers shared a short video of him slicing steak and sprinkling salt down his forearm.

The clip succeeded because it was short, visually understandable, funny, stylish, easy to copy, and attached to a recognizable personality.

However, his business story began years earlier. Gökçe had worked as a butcher since his teenage years, traveled to study international meat culture, and opened the first Nusr-Et restaurant in Istanbul in 2010.

Nusr-Et expanded to Dubai in 2014, three years before the Salt Bae meme. The viral moment then gave the existing restaurant brand extraordinary international exposure.

The restaurants are known for luxury steaks, Lokum tenderloin, Nusr-Et Special, tomahawk steaks, meat sushi, tableside tartare, dramatic carving, energetic service, and baklava with ice cream.

For many customers, visiting Nusr-Et is not only about eating steak. It is about watching a performance, recording a video, celebrating an occasion, and participating in a famous piece of internet culture.

The brand has also faced criticism over prices, uneven reviews, controversial public appearances, and restaurant closures in the United States.

Its lasting influence comes from successfully connecting a meme to a real hospitality business. Salt Bae created a gesture people could recognize online, while Nusr-Et gave customers a place where they could experience and purchase that gesture in person.

His story demonstrates both the power and limitations of restaurant fame. Social media can create attention faster than traditional advertising, but long-term restaurant success still requires quality, value, operations, employee training, and customers who return after the viral moment has passed.

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