Salt Bae Twerking Video Goes Viral As Boston Restaurant Shut Down Days After Opening

A TikTok that appears to involve Instagram star and restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, better known as Salt Bae, has gone viral.

© Ozan Kose/Getty
Turkish restaurateur Nusret Gökçe also known as ‘Salt Bae’, poses for photos at his restaurant ‘Nusr-Et’ at the Grand Bazaar after its reopening on June 1, 2020, in Istanbul. ‘Salt Bae’ appeared in a viral TikTok of an incident at his new Boston restaurant, which was ordered to close within days of opening.

The incident captured in the video took place at the new Nusr-Et restaurant in Boston and sees a woman dancing while Salt Bae appears to film her. A man outside the restaurant then bangs on the glass door, which a waiter opens.

The woman sees the man and moves away, before he storms into the restaurant and approaches her, questioning her on what she was doing.

Many social media users expressed their concern for the woman’s safety due to the man’s aggressive behavior. It is not clear what happened after the video, which now has 3.5 million views on TikTok and thousands more on Twitter.

Salt Bae Serves Steak To Nicolás Maduro While Venezuelans Starve

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But the TikTok went viral for Salt Bae’s appearance, as he is seen filming from the sidelines as the altercation happened.

Who is Salt Bae?

Nusret Gökçe is a Turkish chef and restaurateur who owns a chain of steakhouses called Nusr-Et. He became internet-famous back in 2017 when a video of him cutting meat and sprinkling salt in his flamboyant, signature style went viral.

The image of him sprinkling salt quickly became a meme and Gökçe was henceforth known as Salt Bae. The meme and subsequent fame saw Gökçe gain 30 million followers on Instagram.

However, this viral TikTok is not the first controversy facing the newly-opened Boston restaurant. The influencer and chef had his Boston restaurant closed down just days after opening for a string of health and safety violations.

The Nusr-Et restaurant opened on September 18 and inspectors found violations on the first day, as well as on September 23.

Not only did the restaurant fail to follow COVID-19 guidelines, but the restaurant was also found to have violated fire regulations and health regulations, plus equipment violations. The restaurant had opened without a health permit and had no proof of an on-site food protection manager.

All but one of the violations were fixed by the following day. The remaining violation involved dishwashers not having temperature measuring devices.

Salt Bae is no stranger to controversy. His Nusr-Et restaurant chain is known for serving $1,000 steaks covered in gold leaf, which has sparked customer outrage and even police involvement.

In January, Esquire reported that the Miami restaurant had frequently been visited by police. It was also reported that customers were surprised by bills being much more expensive than they had anticipated.

At the Miami restaurant, the steak costs $275, with the gold leaf addition adding a huge $725 to its cost. Customers claimed that they had ordered the steaks without the gold-leaf, only to be served the expensive dish and later charged $1,000.

Gökçe also came under fire in 2018 for serving Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro as Venezuelans suffered food shortages and malnutrition.

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