UAE: Dubai's Popular Chef Salt Bae Gets Dh21,000 Fine For Verbal Assault

Turkish celebrity chef Salt Bae has been given a fine of 35,000 Turkish lira and five years' supervision for threatening to kill one of his former employees in 2015.

Chef Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce, verbally assaulted Ali Ihsan Kandil who used to work at one of Gokce's restaurants in Istanbul. The celebrity chef got furious after Kandil sat female customers at the same table as male customers.

Revealing that Gokce never apologised to him, Kandil said, "I got involved in a case which had nothing to do with me. I had to go to court. I won the case with 35,000 Turkish lira but they still haven't paid me. During the court process I could not find a job. In three years I had to work in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Moscow, he said.

Now, the Istanbul 23 Penal Court of First Instance has ruled in Kandil's favour and handed out a fine of 35,000 Turkish lira and 5 years of supervised liberty which will mean regular checks by police.

However, as chef Salt Bae has restaurants in international locations, it is unclear how this will affect his international travel.

Gokce owns a chain of Nusr-Et restaurants and is known as Salt Bae for his theatrical, cobra-like style of sprinkling salt on his steaks.

He went viral in 2017 after posting videos of himself salting meat and now has over 21 million Instagram followers and his restaurants in the Middle East, New York and Miami charge several hundred dollars for some cuts of meat.

Last September, four tourists were seriously injured after a flame stunt went wrong at one of his restaurant's in Istanbul.


Tourism Observer

UAE: Salt Bae Will Open Burger Restaurant In Dubai

From salting steaks to serving burgers, the viral social-media star Salt Bae is on a mission around the world to expand his brand.

In February, it was announced that Chef Nusret Gokce, the man behind popular steakhouse Nusr-Et, which in Dubai is based at the Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, will open a burger joint in New York City later this year. He already has four branches of Nusr-Et Burger in Istanbul.

Now, it seems he's going to open another branch in Dubai, too, as he revealed to his 20 million-plus followers over his Instagram Stories on Tuesday that a "Saltbae burger will be opening soon in DIFC Dubai".

There was previously a Nusr-Et Burger shop in Dubai Parks & Resorts, but it has shut down.

Signatures are done, he wrote, alongside an image of him signing documents alongside DIFC officials. He shared further snaps of him at Gate Village, saying the new restaurant would be open after three months.

Nusr-Et Dubai is already somewhat of a phenomenon in the city, attracting most celebrities who step foot here. The steakhouse has been frequented by the likes of Rio Ferdinand, Leonardo DiCaprio and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.

We just hope this new burger spot has an excellent wall mural like the Istinye Park branch has:


Tourism Observer