This was the Fall of a gastronomic empire His name is Salt Bae, A Turkish chef who became global meme, and then international entrepreneur He did exactly what many dream of: wrapped his ego in gold, went viral with his image and believed that fame would be enough to sustain his empire. Spoiler: it didn’t locations The bubble of his restaurants (the Nusr-Et chain) has begun to burst His flagship restaurant in London, famous for charging up to $2,000 for a gold-plated steak, recorded profit drops exceeding 30% and accumulated losses of more than 6.4 million euros. He has been forced to retreat in the American market, where he once opened seven locations, six of which he has had to close in recent years. Among them stands out the shutdown of his burger joint in New York Which critics went so far as to label "the worst restaurant in the city." The Disconnect Between Quality and Price For years, his restaurants thrived on social media hype. Celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Cristiano Ronaldo, or David Beckham would show up to witness the "show" of the salt. However, everyday customers and food critics quickly agreed that, once the spectacle and the gold leaf were stripped away, the food in no way justified the astronomical bills of thousands of dollars. The Salt Bae brand failed to evolve beyond the initial joke.