Can I Just Shock You? Salt Bae’s London Restaurant Will Feature a £700 Gold-Embalmed Steak

Butcher, internet chef sensation, wage theft lawsuit settler, billion-dollar restaurant emperor and salt sprinkler Salt Bae, aka Nusret Gökçe, appears primed to finally open the London outpost of Nusr-Et, his global steakhouse chain on 17 May — the day restaurants in England are, as it stands, permitted to reopen dining rooms for the first time since December.

Google lists Nusr-Et Steakhouse at the Park Tower Knightsbridge Hotel in London: “Opens 17 May.” Meanwhile, multiple role postings have been added to hospitality jobs website caterer.com, including for a restaurant manager — posted over a month ago — and a sommelier, posted just four days ago. Other roles being advertised include “sushi chef,” suggesting that Gökçe has done his homework and understands that the only thing big-money west London restaurants sell more of than large hunks of cooked meat is tiny slivers of raw fish. In addition to that homework, he has settled on the one thing a viral meme-turned-restaurant needs: a stunt dish of such garishness that it will inspire awe and revulsion in all-comers. Here, that dish is a £700 gold-embalmed steak, according to GQ. It looks like this:

GQ

The posting for the restaurant manager role includes the line: “If you’re enthusiastic to contribute in a fast-paced environment with F&B dynamics, and want to be the part of the most exciting opening in London, please apply the post below [...]”

Google

“Most exciting” may be less accurate than “most anticipated.” Or even “most delayed.” Gökçe’s London restaurant has been a long time coming. The opening was first reported in 2017; with the restaurant being given oxygen in 2018, 2019, and the most recent delay actually coming before a rumoured burger restaurant on Mayfair’s Mount Street that never came to pass.

London’s Knightsbridge — on the day lockdown is meaningfully lifted for restaurants — is presumably going to be quite enthusiastic for Gökçe’s prime cuts and seasoning charade. But whether the frontman and his patrons treat the health and safety of employees and fellow guests with the chaotic disdain most recently displayed in Dallas is another matter altogether.