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It has been more than six years since the chef known as Salt Bae became world famous through social networks for his peculiar way of pouring salt, among other things. Since then, Nusret Gökçe, the Turkish chef’s real name, has opened numerous restaurants around the world and has become a real businessman in the hospitality industry. He currently has 22 branches of Nusr-Et in different countries. Although his fame and prestige have grown like wildfire, he has also been surrounded by controversy. In fact, according to Insider, some former employees of his restaurants have complained about the way of working with him, talking about discrimination, irregularities with tips and other out-of-place behaviors.
In fact, even a former manager expressed that Salt Bae had developed a “god complex”, as reported by Delish in relation to the alleged deification he had acquired due to his fame in social networks. Reference was also made to the frequent layoffs experienced in his restaurants, due to employees experiencing pressure situations that put them on edge. “If someone doesn’t like you, they tell you to leave right away, with no notice period,” commented a former employee at Delish. Another former worker went so far as to compare the work environment in his restaurants to ‘The Hunger Games’, alluding to the fact that staff never knew if they were going to be fired during a shift.
Salt Bae’s lawyer responds
In recent years, Salt Bae has received numerous lawsuits from former employees: from alleged discrimination against non-Turkish workers to unfair dismissals in retaliation for complaining about the obligation to dress seductively, as reported by Delish. Although Nusret GökçeGökçe has not made any statements on the matter, his lawyer Christy Reuter has spoken on the subject in some media, going so far as to state that these allegations “are nothing more than a rehash of old lawsuits in which the claims were disputed and have long since been contested and settled.” He also clarified that these types of controversies were commonplace with renowned restaurants and prestigious chefs such as Salt Bae. We will see how this story continues.