Opinions

Every once in a while, a meme comes along that takes the internet by storm. From the white guy blinking to the recent teen checking his phone during Justin Timberlake’s Super Bowl performance, these memes are basically everywhere, dominating Twitter and Instagram. But what happens when a meme comes to life?

For Nusret Gökçe meme-dom meant translating his Salt Bae alter ego and subsequent internet fame into a line of ever-expanding restaurants. Salt Bae’s following, which has grown to over 10 million Instagram followers, allowed him to grow not only beyond the confines of a viral video, but also beyond the borders of Turkey and Dubai, where his line of Turkish-style steakhouses originated. Salt Bae took his talents to New York City, opening restaurant Nusr-Et in early 2018.

Immediately, people were curious about whether Salt Bae’s flourish and pizzazz translated into tastiness and a pleasant overall dining experience. Before followers and fans could make reservations and try the food, critics weighed in with their takes. Some were in favor, but many others were pretty salty.

There’s no doubt that Gordon Ramsay is one of the biggest names in the restaurant business. He’s an international sensation whose cooking chops (he has multiple Michelin stars under his belt) have made him a household name. He’s starred on several TV shows, and has restaurants all over the globe. He enjoys considerable success, but fame has a way of bringing on the haters, and Ramsay has a lot of them.

What is it about Ramsay that makes him so reviled? In some cases, his many feuds can probably be chalked up to professional jealousy, but it definitely goes further than that. Many people simply can’t stand his personality, while others have found themselves as the target of one of Ramsay’s cruel comments. For one reason or another, there are a lot of people who hold a grudge against the millionaire chef.

Jamie Oliver seems to be copping an enormous amount of schadenfreude, as he closes restaurants, including branches of Jamie’s Italian, and restructures his company to keep it afloat. Some people just don’t rate his restaurants, which is fair enough. The problems seem to lie mainly in the company’s disastrous over-expansion and restaurant chains being hit generally. With Oliver in particular, there’s also a shadow narrative about his supposed self-importance, hubris and self-interest. Which seems unfair – he wasn’t the first to stick his name on kitchen utensils or publish a paper tsunami of recipe books and he won’t be the last.