There was a time when Salt Bae wasn’t met with only cynicism. His silly goose-neck salt sprinkling was the meme of the moment and when he arrived in London in 2021, queues to his Knightsbridge restaurant formed quickly, bills in the thousands hit social media, and steaks in glittering gold captured the zeitgeist. David Beckham and Leonardo DiCaprio were among scores of celebs to tuck in.
But for all the seasoned fetishism, this Turkish butcher, real name Nusret Gökçe, might have had his day in the sun. A turning point came about at last year’s World Cup in Qatar, when for reasons still unknown, he made his way onto the pitch to celebrate with winners Argentina. Lionel Messi looked visibly annoyed. Only champions and heads of state are supposed to touch the trophy, yet Salt Bae got his burger-slapping fingers on it and posed for photographs with the stars.
