Salt Bae’s infamous London restaurant is leaving London for being pricey on Sunday just six weeks after it opened in Knightsbridge, London.
The social media icon and live meme is packing his bags and moving to the warmer climate of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he will open his 28th restaurant.
Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, confirmed the news recently on her Instagram stories. He posted a picture of him with an unknown woman, writing: “Sunday is my last day in beautiful London. I want to see you before I go, beautiful people.”
(Salt Bay / Instagram)
The famous chef’s restaurant, which often serves very expensive cuts of meat, has attracted attention since its arrival in the UK, especially for some of the mind-boggling bills customers have been posing.
Things started when a bill was leaked on social media and people noticed a Red Bull drink was £11 and a steak was around £630.
Celebrity and socialite Gemma Collins later admitted she “felt sick” after paying more than £1,000 for a gold-leaf tomahawk steak from Salt Bae. Meanwhile, another diner managed to spend a staggering £37,000 in the restaurant.
However, not everything was so easy for the Turkish chef. The restaurant was inundated with many negative online reviews from disgruntled customers and the place was also the victim of a ploy by food critic Jay Rayner, who ate kebabs on the street outside.
They’ve also come up with accusations of underpaying their staff after people noticed that an ad for Chef de Partie in the restaurant only paid £12 to £13.50 an hour, roughly the cost of the expensive restaurant’s mashed potatoes.
However, Salt Bae seemed no less concerned about the negativity and people continued to flock to the restaurant to empty their bank accounts or meet the man in person.
It remains to be seen if that will continue now that he has gone to the Middle East. London’s loss is a real gain for Saudi Arabia.
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