Celebrity steak chef Salt Bae has stunned critics after sharing an absurd £85,000 bill from his Dubai restaurant, showing a customer had spent £56,000 on wine alone.
Nusret Gökçe, 40, known for his eccentric way of preparing and seasoning meat, posted the receipt dated January 20 on Instagram to his 54 million followers.
“Money comes, money goes,” he wrote, showing how wealthy customers spent £60 on a beef carpaccio, £3,300 on three steaks and £240 on a golden filet mignon.
The post sparked reactions from commentators who felt the flex was an insult as ordinary Turks battle inflation of more than 60 percent and an unemployment rate of 10 percent.
An Instagram comment from ‘cheftoniringgold’ said: ‘This is a case of people having more money than common sense.’
Another from ‘porkys_bar_cornetto’ said: ‘My carpenter is a better cook.’
And the Turkish newspaper Yenicag accused Salt Bae of flaunting his wealth while “citizens struggle to make ends meet on a three-cent minimum wage.”
Salt Bae (photo, undated) boasted in a recent Instagram post: ‘money comes, money goes’
Celebrity chef Salt Bae shared the voucher on Instagram with his 54 million followers
Four customers, who have not been named, managed to pick up a bill worth £85,300 at Salt Bae’s Nusret Restaurant – apparently named after him – in just two hours and forty minutes.
According to the receipt, they washed down the meat feast with four porn star martinis for AED 480 (£100), two bottles of Chateau Petrus 2009 for AED 198,000 (£42,300) and one bottle of Petrus 2011 for AED 65,000 (£14,000). ), among other luxury items.
They ended the meal with a round of exclusive Louis XIII cognac for AED 27,500 (£5,884.95).
The bill includes a seven percent service charge, but guests were happy to contribute AED 90,000 (£19,260) in tips, the record shows.
But it was Salt Bae’s blatant boasting that sparked an outpouring of protest from local and social media.
One commented on the receipt: ‘Obscene and sad’.
The post was just as divisive on Instagram.
Chefkelvin wrote: ‘Imagine being so rich and wasting your money on food that isn’t worth it…’
Yasrebber weighed in: ‘Shameful because millions of people are going hungry.’
User amanjismael said: ‘That would have fed at least 100,000 hungry children around the world. How embarrassing.’
Artist Sabrina Terrence wrote: ‘Sorry, what a waste of money. It would be better if at least 50 percent went to charities, Yemen, Gaza, etc.’
Another user wrote: ‘While all the children in Gaza are starving, you’re charging people absurd amounts of money to eat your mediocre, overpriced food.’
Turkey has maintained strong support for the situation of Palestinian civilians with limited access to food, water and security since the conflict between Israel and Hamas broke out in October.
Turkey itself has struggled to get its finances in order, with Erdogan pursuing a mix of unorthodox policies in an attempt to get inflation under control.
Still, the country’s annual inflation rate rose to 64.8 percent in December, the highest since November 2022 (62 percent), but slightly lower than market forecasts.
Food inflation hit a three-month high of 72 percent, up from 67.2 percent in November.
According to Numbeo, a single family of four living in Turkey can expect to spend €1,428.30 per month on pre-rental expenses.
The cost of living is said to be almost half that of Britain. Rents in Turkey are on average 62 percent lower than in Great Britain.
Salt Bae’s astonishing prices have attracted celebrities from all over the world to its numerous restaurants – although its Knightsbridge location only gets 2.5 stars on TripAdvisor.
Last summer, the chef was forced to lower prices in an effort to attract customers.
Turkish chef Nusret Gokce has divided opinion with his status symbol for luxury meals
The chef became an internet meme in January 2017, founding several ‘top’ steakhouses
The chef was embarrassed in 2022 when he stormed the World Cup final pitch in Qatar so he could be snatched with the trophy Argentina had just won.
At the time he claimed: ‘I love Argentina. lived there for a while. I went to the game to support them.”
But after facing huge setbacks, the 40-year-old added: ‘Most of the team came to my restaurant, I didn’t feel like a stranger.
‘That moment was a very special moment. I can’t do anything about what happened there, but I will never set foot on a World Cup pitch again!’
And last summer he was forced to lower prices in an effort to attract customers.