Nusret Gökçe, better known by his nickname Salt Bae, is a Turkish butcher, chef, restaurateur, and food entertainer.
Gökçe is widely considered one of Turkey’s most successful and famous restaurateurs. He owns a chain of luxury steak houses called Nusr-Et.
As of 2021, Nusr-Et had branches in at least five countries, including Turkey, Greece, the United Kingdom, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. The name Nusr-Et comes from Nusret Gökçe’s first name, although the suffix -ET is also Turkish for ‘meat.’
Salt Bae Quick Facts
| Full Name: | Nusret Gökçe |
| Popular Name: | Salt Bae |
| Nicknames: | N/A |
| Birth Date: | 1983 |
| Age: | 39 years |
| Parents: | Faik Gökçe and Fatma Gökçe |
| Siblings: | Erman Gökçe (Brother), Özgür Gökçe (Brother), and Uğur Gökçe (Brother) |
| Birth Place: | Erzurum, Turkey |
| Nationality: | Turkish |
| Ethnicity: | Kurdish |
| Religion: | Islam |
| Education: | Faik Sahenk Ilkokulu School |
| Marital Status: | Rumored to be married |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Children: | Unknown |
| Net Worth: | USD 70 million |
| Source of Wealth: | Restaurateuring, Social Media, and Other Ventures |
| Height: | 5′ 6″ (1.68 m) |
| Weight: | In kilograms: 65 kg; In pounds: 143 lbs. |
Early Life and Career Information
Early Life
Nusret Gökçe was born in 1983 in Erzurum, Turkey, to Faik Gökçe and Fatma Gökçe. His father was a mineworker.
Gökçe attended Faik Sahenk Ilkokulu School. However, he dropped out in sixth grade (the equivalent of grade eleven to twelve) to work as a butcher’s apprentice in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district.
Career Information
Nusret Gökçe’s career began sometime around 2007. He traveled to several countries between 2007 and 2010, such as the United States and Argentina, where he worked in numerous local restaurants for free. His primary objective was to gain the knowledge required in setting up and operating a successful restaurant business.
Armed with knowledge and experience in restaurant management, Gökçe later returned to Turkey and opened his first restaurant in the country’s capital – Istanbul. He dedicated the first few months to growing his startup and one year later, the restaurant was one of Istanbul’s most patronized diners.
In 2014, Nusret Gökçe opened another restaurant in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It wasn’t long before the Dubai restaurant became the talk of the town, especially among meat lovers.
Gökçe’s businesses received a popularity boost in January 2017 when a series of viral videos and memes of Nusret cutting meat and sprinkling salt on it began circulating online. It’s during this period that he earned the name Salt Bae due to his peculiar salt-sprinkling techniques. Apparently, the chef begins by dropping salt from his fingertips and then releases it to his forearm before delivering it onto the dish.
The videos were first posted on Gökçe’s Twitter account before they went viral on other social media platforms. They garnered 10 million views on Instagram within a few months of upload.
Nusret Gökçe became an international figure in the restaurant industry following the viral videos. He traveled around the world and served numerous renowned celebrities, including musicians, actors, and politicians.
Salt Bae’s Net Worth
Salt Bae is undoubtedly one of the most successful Turkish restaurateurs. He has a net worth of USD 70 million as at October 1, 2022. As you might expect, the bulk of his wealth comes from his Nusr-Et luxury steak houses.
Besides earnings from Nusr-Et restaurants, Gökçe also takes home reasonable salaries from his profession as a chef and butcher.
And needless to mention, social media has also contributed a considerable percentage of Salt Bae’s net worth. It’s safe to imagine that the accomplished restaurateur makes money from monetized social media posts and sponsorship deals. That’s especially considering that he enjoys a whopping 48.4 million followers on Instagram alone.
Lessons from Salt Bae
1. There’s a reason for everything
Salt Bae dropped out of school in 6th grade and took up a butcher’s apprenticeship in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district. On the one hand, the idea of not completing his education might have been difficult to reconcile with. But on the other hand, dropping out of school and accepting a butcher’s apprenticeship played an instrumental in making him the successful restaurateur he is today.
2. Give back
Gökçe hasn’t forgotten his humble beginnings. That’s evidenced by his various involvements in charity work, including sponsoring a school construction project in his hometown of Erzurum.
3. Nothing worth having comes on a silver platter
Salt Bae traveled the world in his quest for knowledge and experience in restaurant management. That only goes to show that great accomplishments require a degree of sacrifice.
Famous Quotes by Salt Bae
• A man that does not spend time with his family is not a real man.
• Being tired isn’t anything. What’s important is the mind. The body being tired isn’t important. You can get over the body being tired by resting for a half-hour or an hour. What’s important is whether the mind is tired.
• I’m a leader at the restaurant. If I do this, the people at the restaurant will try to do better. I believe in that, and that’s the way it is.
• My father and mother do not know literacy. I cannot go to school due to financial difficulties. I started to working at a butcher as an apprentice when I was 14.
• New York City is the center of the world. There is an energy here. People from all over the world feel at home here.
Summary
Salt Bae is a renowned Turkish restaurateur with scores of international restaurants to his name.
Thanks to his relentless spirit of enterprise, Gökçe currently enjoys a jaw-dropping net worth of $70 million.
