Salt Bae fined by court for insulting ex-waiter in public

ISTANBUL

Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish butcher and chef popularly known as Salt Bae, has been given a judicial fine of 8,700 Turkish Liras ($876) by an Istanbul court for insulting an ex-waiter in public.

The incident occurred on an evening in 2015 when Ali İhsan Kandil, who worked as a waiter for 17 months at the Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Istanbul’s Etiler quarter, was serving a table where seven men were seated.

Since the restaurant was jam-packed and there were no other seats available, two women customers, who later came to the restaurant, were offered to sit at this table along with the men. As the women were not comfortable sharing the table, they reported the situation to Gökçe.

Subsequently, Gökçe started shouting at Kandil, who reportedly had no connection with the incident, in front of all customers, using swear words and insults, according to reports.

Claiming that the world-famous chef had insulted him publicly and offended him in front of customers, Kandil filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor’s office.

Prosecuted for insult, Gökçe was sentenced to a judicial fine of 8,700 liras.

After the criminal case was finalized, Kandil applied to the court again and filed one lira ($0.10) moral compensation lawsuit against his former boss, noting that the moral damage he suffered cannot be compensated with money.

Gökçe owns a chain of restaurants around the world and is known as Salt Bae for his theatrical, cobra-like style of sprinkling salt on steaks.