Boston’s ‘Salt Bae’ restaurant ordered to close due to COVID-19 violations

The Boston licensing board ordered the city’s “Salt Bae” restaurant to close its doors for the time being due to a variety of health and safety violations, some of which were put in place because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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Nusr-Et Boston, which is part of a chain of restaurants and opened on Sept. 19, is headed by Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gokce, who became famous on social media for videos that showed him salting meat with dramatic flair. He was quickly dubbed “Salt Bae.”

The restaurant was closed on Saturday for a number of alleged violations, including poor social distancing, a lack of mask-wearing on the part of employees and customers, opening the restaurant without a health permit, keeping two refrigerators at too high a temperature, keeping the dishwasher’s water at too low a temperature, blocking fire exits, and having a line outside the restaurant.

It appears that many of the issues have already been addressed, but a hearing with the licensing board is scheduled for Tuesday.

Gokce posted a video on Instagram on Sept. 19, showing patrons gathered inside and outside the restaurant, with an employee taking people’s names. There was little distance between the customers. Most people inside appeared to be wearing masks, but on the outside, some customers were wearing masks, and others were not.

Gokce has dealt with other disputes over how he runs his businesses. The viral chef has been accused of many labor violations and reportedly paid $230,000 in an out-of-court settlement with some of his former New York staffers.

Tags: News, Boston, Restaurants, Coronavirus, Social Media

Original Author: Haley Victory Smith

Original Location: Boston’s ‘Salt Bae’ restaurant ordered to close due to COVID-19 violations