The name Salt Bae is probably well known in social media circles. The image of this young man with his charming ducktail hairstyle, skillfully sprinkling salt on steaks, and most importantly, the exceptional quality from his chain of restaurants has helped the name Salt Bae achieve international fame. However, few know that to reach today’s success, he also faced a very difficult childhood and only succeeded thanks to luck and perseverance.
Born into a family of four siblings with parents working as miners, no one in Salt Bae’s family had pursued cooking. However, from a young age, this young man had a passionate love for cooking and a desire to become a professional chef. Perhaps that’s why at just 13 years old, while he was in 6th grade, due to his family’s difficult circumstances, he decided to drop out of school and started working as a dishwasher in steak restaurants across Turkey.
During his time working, he learned various skills in cutting meat and preparing steaks from many chefs he encountered. By 2010, Salt Bae’s first restaurant opened with 8 tables and 10 staff, funded by the small amount he saved during his years as a dishwasher. Initially, the business faced many challenges, as even though the food was delicious, almost no one knew the Salt Bae brand. It wasn’t until a customer who enjoyed Salt Bae’s steak was extremely satisfied and decided to invest that things started to look up.
From then on, word spread, and by 2017, the name Salt Bae had truly gained international popularity and was all over social media, especially Instagram. Even a video of his Ottoman steak attracted over 2.4 million views in just 48 hours. Currently, he has a personal account with over 30 million followers. However, despite his fame, he has also faced numerous criticisms regarding the quality of his products and allegations of mistreating his staff.
