IF there’s one name that’s been plastered all over your social media feed this week – it’s likely to be Salt Bae.
The Turkish restaurateur, real name is Nusret Gökçe, opened up his latest luxury eatery in London last month – with already infamous price tags.
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Salt Bae, 38, became an internet sensation in 2017 when his unique steak-slicing and salt-sprinkling antics took the world by storm on social media.
Bruno Mars took to his eatery, and filmed as the star seductively pouted and poured salt from his hand, poised like a swan, onto a plate of meat below.
Racking up two-and-a-half million views overnight – and now 17million in total – Twitter fans went wild and dubbed the mystery chef ‘Salt Bae’.
Since then, his Instagram feed – followed by 39million people – has centred around his weird and downright wonderful steak serving technique.
Having opened his 14th restaurant in London’s Knightsbridge, Salt Bae found himself at the centre of everyone’s talk once more over his prices.
One of the first diners at the new eatery revealed it cost £1,182 for a family meal – including four redbulls for £44 and a 24ct-gold steak for £790.
You think that’s crazy? The steak-cooking star is now rumoured to be worth £38million thanks to his online fame and has a host of top celebrity pals.
Everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Rihanna have famously visited the restaurant chain to be dazzled by his salt-sprinkling skills.
Here we’ve picked out some of the craziest moments in Salt Bae’s internet history – from drone-delivered meat to serving to the stars.
DRONE-DELIVERED MEAT
You just can’t get the staff these days – or so that seems to be the case for Salt Bae, who has been spotted using DRONES to deliver his meat.
The star took to his Instagram while working at his restaurant in Beverley Hills to show off how his steaks are brought to the kitchen.
A white drone could be seen shuttling vegetables and meat back and forth from the kitchen, before overseeing the cooking process on the grill.
“My new exclusive chef,” Salt Bae captioned the video of him ordering the drone around. We’re wondering if it will get any of the tips.
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SUNG TO BY ANDREA BOCELLI
Salt Bae has a host of celebrity pals who often visit his restaurant – including world renown Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.
In August, the chef could be seen being serenaded by the opera singer as he stood over a stove at his steak house in Mykonos, Greece.
Andrea, 63, sang Elvis hit Can’t Help Falling In Love as he held his chef pal by the shoulder, who couldn’t help but share his excitement.
“Wow only special for me,” the Turkish chef captioned the video, where he could be seen gently singing along and muttering “wow”.
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HANGING OUT WITH DJ KHALED
Another of the chef’s celebrity friends is DJ Khaled – who he was seen hanging out with as they made a motivational speech together.
While Salt Bae dressed up for the occasion in a white suit and red shirt, the DJ kept things casual in a white top and yellow silk trousers.
“You’re witnessing and you’re watching greatness,” the record producer could be heard saying as he and Salt Bae sat side by side.
“Life is what you make it, so make it great. You see my brother working every day, you see him on Instagram, he doesn’t take a day off.
“You see him in Dubai, Turkey, New York, Miami – I haven’t seen him take one day off. The empire is big already, and he’s building.”
High praise from DJ Khaled, who concluded: “Another one.”
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CHEF MBAPPE
Footballers love Salt Bae – with all of the top stars from David Beckham to Lionel Messi having visited his top restaurants.
Earlier this year, PSG star Kylian Mbappe was seen cooking alongside the chef, cutting up a large piece of steak and covering it in salt.
Salt Bae could be seen watching on carefully behind him, but we don’t think he will be hiring the footballer anytime soon.
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FEEDING CONOR MCGREGOR
If all his other celebrity friends weren’t impressive enough – Salt Bae showed off earlier this year as he fed steak to Conor McGregor.
The MMA star took to the restaurant alongside his wife and children, ordering not one but TWO gold-covered steaks for them to eat.
Conor, 33, could be seen watching on as the chef cut up the meat before letting him sprinkle it with seasoning himself.
The chef went on to pick up a piece of meat with his ultra-sharp knife and dangle it above the fighter, who ate it as it hung in the air.
The new-found friends then walked around the restaurant together in signature McGregor style.
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MEAT SLAPPING HABIT
Perhaps one of the weirdest trends on Salt Bae’s Instagram account is his habit of slapping the steaks before they go to the grill.
Dozens of videos show the Turkish chef hitting, slamming and massaging pices of steak – and in one video doing all three to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
Seeing his following shoot up after the clip – Salt Bae could be seen giving the piece of meat a sultry massage with rosemary-infused butter.
We’re not sure is its sensual or just downright strange…
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KISSING COWS
Salt Bae appears to have involvement in the food supply chain to his restaurant from start to finish – including where his beef comes from.
And he’s not shy about getting up close and personal with his meat, as he was seen getting kissed by a cow in one bizarre video.
Leaning down towards the animal’s face, Salt Bae let the cow lick him on the lips and over the chin – captioning the video: “She said, I lick it.”
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BUYING A HOTEL
His success seems unstoppable – and there’s no shortness of cash for Salt Bae these days as he’s often seen splashing out.
The chef even bought Istanbul’s five-star hotel Macka Palas in 2019, for an eye watering €50million.
The star posed as he signed an official contract in a video that his since been watched by over five million of his fans.
“Today I reached my dream and lifelong goal of own hotel I am very proud to announce that I bought the diamond of Istanbul Nisantasi Park hayatt hotel,” he wrote on Instagram.
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THE GODFATHER
With all the money, fame and power that Salt Bae has managed to accumulate – there’s no surprise he’s imitated the Godfather.
He could be seen being driven to a stunning estate in the heart of Italy, puffing on a cigar in the back of the old-style car.
Followed by two intimidating bodyguards, Salt Bae – who captioned the video “part two” – disappeared into the stunning stately home.
