Nusret Gokce, the Turkish restaurant owner who is now adoringly known as "Salt Bae" online, actually has more sides to him than the one the internet loves -- the side of him that caresses and then sensually slaps, spanks, cuts, sprinkles and slices slabs of meat.
It turns out that the chef is also a co-partner of the global Nusr-et chain of grill houses (which in part explains why he was always surrounded by raw meat). Business Insider reports that since he's gained viral acclaim as Salt Bae (with 2.5 million followers on Instagram), he is now ready to take the next step in his business career.
Guess what, folks? Salt Bae is expanding Nusr-et, and new branches will open up in London and New York in the course of just a mere few months.
That's right, soon you will be able to experience Salt Bae's gastric offerings, and thankfully he told the Turkish Daily News that even though he doesn't know any foreign languages, he absolutely "could communicate with people through meat."
Tell us something we don't know, oh Salt Bae.
"I am the son of a mine worker. My father and mother do not know literacy," he went on. "I [could not] go to school due to financial difficulties. I started to working at a butcher as an apprentice when I was 14. Meat has become a passion for me."
In fact, Salt Bae informed the Turkish Daily News that the salt-sprinkling and meat-cutting skills that made him famous were not actually just bids at worldwide recognition. His passion just brings out those moves naturally.
"Actually that move at the end [salting] came automatically. I did not do that to show off. It is just my signature. You can think of it [as] a kind of final touch for a painting. It was a final touch to the meat; I was blessing the meat," he explained.
What do you think? Will you be making a reservation at one of Salt Bae's new Nusr-et locations?