Just two years ago, Nusret Gokce – known worldwide as the ‘Salt Bae’ butcher – was at the peak of his success. He traveled the globe on his private jet, enjoyed a luxurious lifestyle, and counted celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Roger Federer, and Drake among his friends.
He had become incredibly wealthy and famous online because of his restaurants – a chain of 31 locations worldwide – and his unique way of sprinkling salt on food.
The chef first gained attention in 2017 with a viral 36-second video called ‘Ottoman Steak.’ In the clip, he’s seen dramatically preparing a steak while wearing his now-famous dark sunglasses, white t-shirt, and black pants. He skillfully slices the meat and then adds a final touch: a dramatic sprinkle of rock salt from a raised arm onto the steak.
After Bruno Mars shared the video on Twitter, it quickly gained 2.4 million views in a single night. Soon after, the chef, known as Gokce, became a worldwide internet sensation, famously nicknamed ‘Salt Bae’.
He quickly capitalized on his newfound popularity. Within a year, the short but famous chef launched his first restaurant, NusR-et, in Miami, and soon after opened locations in New York City (2018) and London (2021).
His success led him to open locations in popular destinations like Beverly Hills, Dallas, Las Vegas, Dubai, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, and Mykonos, Greece. He quickly attracted a high-profile clientele, including celebrities like David Beckham, Jason Statham, Naomi Campbell, Snoop Dogg, Lionel Messi, and Donald Trump Jr.
It appears Salt Bae’s moment in the spotlight might be over. Recent reports show his US businesses are struggling, with losses of over £5.4 million last year. He’s now down to just two steakhouses in America, located in Midtown Manhattan and Miami, after several others have closed.
Yet in the eyes of many friends and former staff, his fall from grace was inevitable.
Former employees describe him as a harsh and avaricious leader, alleging he pressured female staff for massages and drastically overcharged for poor-quality food. Others claim he’s become arrogant and believes he’s above reproach.
Being friends with the controversial rapper P Diddy seemed to reinforce the idea that Gokce’s success had gone to her head, making her appear arrogant.
And his restaurants have been dogged by a series of lawsuits.
Gökçe’s popularity came down to a straightforward formula: incredibly expensive meat served with a lot of flashy presentation.
The opening of his new London restaurant featured some incredibly extravagant dishes. The most expensive was a tomahawk steak, grilled and covered in edible 24-carat gold leaf, costing over £700. Other unusual items included ‘meat spaghetti’ – steak cut into thin strips and meant to be eaten like pasta – for £95, and a hamburger with gold leaf for £100. Even the desserts were luxurious, like a £50 baklava also decorated with gold.
Gokce, a 42-year-old chef, became famous for dramatically carving steaks with a sword and serving a piece to his customers directly from the blade. People would line up, hoping to get a chance to meet him and experience his unique service.
Actually, that kind of opportunity was rare and only happened for a select few. He typically began his week in Turkey, serving lunch in Istanbul, his hometown, and then traveling to Ankara for the dinner service.
He maintained a hectic travel schedule, spending Thursdays and Fridays in Dubai before returning to Istanbul on Saturday and flying to Miami on Sunday. However, by 2023, problems began to surface in the international business he’d built so quickly. He was dealing with multiple lawsuits, some of which were settled privately. In London, former employees reported being made to work extremely long hours under a boss known for immediately firing people over minor issues. Meanwhile, in New York, staff alleged they weren’t paid for overtime and accused managers of stealing their tips.
Gokce’s lawyer responded to the accusations by stating that well-known restaurants and chefs frequently face false and sensational claims.
Last week, The Mail on Sunday interviewed a former employee of one of Gokce’s American restaurants. Their account confirmed earlier reports about his conduct.
She shared, on the condition of keeping her identity private, that the experience was incredibly demanding. Long hours were expected, and the environment was very rigid.
I once got in trouble just for drinking water! And if you had to use the restroom, you had to rush – there wasn’t much time.
The company’s negative atmosphere originated with him. He created a hostile and frightening work environment, and behaved oddly – for example, he’d ask employees for foot massages during dinner service.
She described him as quite arrogant. He personally interviewed her and then asked for a photo with himself, assuming everyone would want a selfie or autograph. She also noticed he frequently filmed content for his social media accounts.
He often had a different woman waiting for him after his dinner shift.
She also criticized him for prioritizing profit over quality. According to her, he would inflate prices and add unnecessary extras. For example, they began selling steaks covered in edible gold leaf for significantly more money. She believes this ultimately hurt business, especially after a photo surfaced of Salt Bae with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. As sales declined, she said they became increasingly desperate.
In 2018, videos surfaced showing Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe, known as Salt Bae, serving Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at his Istanbul restaurant. The group then shared cigars and took pictures together.
Venezuela was facing a severe food shortage, and many people couldn’t afford even the most essential items, much less meat. When Gokce shared videos of his experience online with his large following, he received significant criticism.
It was too late to undo the harm once he removed the posts. Protests broke out in front of his Miami restaurant, and Senator Marco Rubio publicly criticized him for supporting a dictator while people in Venezuela suffered from hunger.
Troubling claims of a toxic workplace culture first emerged in a 2021 court case in New York.
Elizabeth Cruz, a former bartender, is suing restaurant owner Gokce, claiming she experienced discrimination. She alleges that on her first day in 2019, a manager at his Manhattan restaurant told her to go home and change into more revealing clothing—specifically, a short skirt, high heels, and a revealing top—after she arrived wearing the standard uniform of long pants, a button-down shirt, an apron, and a tie.
Ms. Cruz, originally from the Dominican Republic, stated that the comment made her feel degraded, offended, humiliated, and subjected to sexual harassment.
Ugh, this whole thing just *dragged*. It felt like it would never end! Finally, in May 2023, the judge basically said, ‘Okay, you two, sort this out yourselves, but do it privately.’ And honestly? That’s the last we’ve heard. They’ve kept everything under wraps since then, so I have NO idea what the arbitration decided. It’s killing me!
Nusret Gökçe’s restaurants have faced criticism from previous employees for some time, and he’s now also receiving increased attention for the people he associates with.
Footage from DJ Khaled’s birthday party in June 2017 depicts Gokce socializing with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who is currently facing serious allegations.
In December 2017, Diddy (Sean Combs) had Salt Bae flown to his home to cook a meal for him, his friends, and family. Diddy affectionately calls Salt Bae his “brother” in a video showing them embracing and toasting. Later that month, he brought the chef back to Miami for his New Year’s Eve celebration.
Sean Combs and chef Nusret Gökçe were seen together at a Dubai nightclub launch in 2018. More recently, in 2022, Combs was photographed at Nusret’s London restaurant.
Gokce shared a heartfelt birthday message for his friend on Instagram, calling him a successful entrepreneur, a legend in music and entertainment, and a true genius. He finished with a loving message, wishing him a happy birthday.
Given what happened next, this soon looked like a colossal error of judgment.
Singer Cassie Ventura, Diddy’s girlfriend, filed a surprising lawsuit that quickly became a major topic of discussion across the United States.
Diddy received a four-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine this month following the court’s findings of severe abuse against Cassie, related to prostitution offenses.
While he wasn’t convicted on the most serious charges, prosecutors alleged that at parties hosted by Combs – often with famous guests – women were secretly drugged and filmed during sexual activity.
When Gokce was seen with Diddy, he may not have been aware of the legal issues that were about to surface. However, as of today, the chef – who is very active on Instagram with over 52 million followers – still follows Diddy’s account, along with 379 others.
As a lifestyle expert, I’ve seen plenty of bold moves, but Gokce really turned heads at the 2022 World Cup final! While Argentina was celebrating their win, he actually managed to get past security and ran onto the field. It definitely caused quite a stir, and it’s a moment people are still talking about!
He acted arrogantly by posing with the World Cup trophy and physically interacting with players, even though FIFA rules clearly state only winners, officials, and heads of state are permitted to touch it.
He kept trying to get a selfie with Lionel Messi, even as Messi was trying to celebrate with his teammates and looked confused by the attempts.
The video of the incident spread rapidly online, causing widespread anger from both fans and officials. FIFA immediately began investigating how the individual managed to get onto the field, and he later expressed remorse, claiming he got caught up in the moment. When asked about his motivation, he explained: ‘Two billion people were watching the World Cup… now, five billion people are talking about me. I’ve reached the entire world.’
Many might argue that these are the actions of a man swept up by a world he never grew up in.
I’ve always been so impressed by Gokce’s story. She grew up in Erzurum, a pretty tough city in north-eastern Turkey, as one of five kids. Her dad was a miner and her mom stayed home to raise them all, and honestly, life wasn’t easy – the average person there only made around £6 a day. It really puts things into perspective.
Growing up, Gokce’s family didn’t have much money – he often wore hand-me-down clothes that were too large for him. He left school at a young age to earn money for his family, and started working at local butcher shops, where he learned the trade.
In 2007, wanting to improve his skills, he took out a bank loan and traveled to Argentina, a country known for its beef, to learn from chefs in local steakhouses about preparing and serving meat.
After gaining enough experience, he returned to Turkey in 2010 and launched his first restaurant in Istanbul. It was a small place, with only eight tables.
He’s now incredibly wealthy, with a fortune worth tens of millions of pounds. He owns a stunning car collection valued at over £1 million, including two Rolls-Royces worth at least £250,000 apiece, stored in Dubai and Miami. He also has a speedboat for enjoying the waters of Turkey’s Bosphorus, and, of course, a private jet.
Gokce has also been steadily investing in real estate. In 2019, he purchased the landmark Macka Palas building in Istanbul for approximately £42.5 million.
The building that contains the Park Hyatt Istanbul hotel also includes a luxurious penthouse. This penthouse, complete with a rooftop pool, spa, and stunning views of the Bosphorus, is where Gokce lives.
Gokce reportedly purchased a £1.8 million villa in Mykonos, Greece, as a vacation home, and then spent around £850,000 renovating it.
He recently bought a large apartment and restaurant complex in a great spot on the Spanish island of Ibiza.
According to reports, work on the complex got under way in 2023 and is still unfinished.
Once finished, the project will feature 51 apartments, parking for 80 cars below ground, and four high-end restaurants, including a location of the popular NusR-et steakhouse.
A two-bedroom apartment in the development is currently for sale at £1.5 million. It was first offered for sale earlier this year.
No one could deny that the canny Gokce has made the most of his viral moment eight years ago.
If anything is clear, it’s that all fame eventually fades, but fame gained through social media is the most temporary kind of all.
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2025-10-19 03:40