Salt Bae will serve luxury steaks in Beverly Hills late into the night

Internet celebrity Salt Bae will be sprinkling salt onto $1,000 gold-leaf steaks late into the night, once his Beverly Hills restaurant opens on North Canon Drive.

Nusret Gökçe, better known as Salt Bae, went viral through a series of videos showcasing his flamboyant way of sprinkling salt and cutting meat. But aside from being a meme, the Turkish chef owns a chain of luxury steakhouses called Nusr-Et in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Greece and the United States.

He now plans on opening a location in Beverly Hills, next to the luxury steakhouse Spago. Because the restaurant is in a residential and commercial transition area, however, it needed an extended hours permit to stay open past 10 p.m.

The Planning Commission approved the permit last Thursday, under the condition the restaurant would not accept new customers past 12 a.m. Nusr-Et will now be able to operate between 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and between 7 a.m. and 2 a.m. Sundays.

Murray Fischer, counsel for Nusr-Et, said the restaurant had planned to open on January 15 but couldn’t because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Unfortunately, because of COVID we cannot open up until the health department gives us the okay on that,” Fischer said. “But in the meantime, we are working very closely with Spago and the LA County Health Department in order to provide a potential open air tent within the cul de sac.”

Chair Peter Ostroff welcomed the restaurant to Beverly Hills and said it’s the kind of business the city wants.

“I hope that there’s more of you and I hope that you thrive and flourish,” Ostroff said.