Social media celebrity chef Salt Bae is feeling the heat after serving controversial Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at his restaurant in Istanbul, Turkey. The meal in question took place on Monday, September 17, and has made Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gökçe, the target of bad Yelp reviews and protests at the site of his Nusr-Et Miami restaurant, which is located in Florida. The vitriol aimed at the Turkish restaurateur stems from the fact that Maduro, who chowed down on a $275 steak while a guest at Nusr-et Istanbul, has clung to power in Venezuela via whatever means necessary, including jailing political opponents and tampering with elections. The South American country has been in the midst of economic crisis for several years, and 90 percent of the population now lives in poverty thanks to massive inflation. Furthermore, Reuters reports the average Venezuelan citizen lost 24 pounds of body weight in 2017, so it’s easy to see why people were enraged as Maduro ate a pricey piece of meat in Istanbul. In fact, the internet backlash was so swift that Yelp is now monitoring reviews for Nusr-Et’s Miami outpost and removing those that are not based on a firsthand experience with the business. The company responded in such a way after users began leaving a slew of one-star write-ups. “I can’t approve a chef who serves food to a couple that rule a country where people are dying by starvation,” opined one reviewer, according to the Miami Herald. Currently, Nusr-Et’s Miami’s Yelp page displays a message from the site explaining that it is cleaning up the negative reviews because the restaurant “recently made waves in the news.” In a statement to Us Weekly, Yelp says “media-fueled reviews” typically violate its content guidelines, which is why reviews are being closely watched in this case. “Yelp reviews are required to describe a firsthand consumer experience, not what someone read in the news,” the statement adds. “Our user support team ultimately removes reviews that violate these guidelines.” This controversy even reached Florida senator Marco Rubio, who slammed Salt Bae in a series of tweets written on Tuesday, September 18, and referred to Maduro as a “criminal that is systematically starving the people of #Venezuela.” More than 100 protesters took to the street outside Nusr-Et Miami on Wednesday, September 19, to demand an apology for Salt Bae’s actions. Per the Herald, the protesters were chanting in Spanish and holding up signs featuring photos of hungry children. Salt Bae has yet to respond to the controversy.<doc-sep>The 16 Best and Worst Jerky Brands for Your Next Road Trip From Urban Cowboy to Slant Shack, which brand reigns supreme?<doc-sep>Nicolas Maduro boasted about dining in decadence – as his country starves – at Salt Bae’s “famous restaurant” and brushed off outrage over the meal as “an international mob,” according to reports. Venezuela’s tone-deaf president promised to return to Nusret Gokce’s steakhouse in Istanbul “very, very soon” despite being roasted after videos of him and wife Cilia Flores gorging on $275 lamb went viral. “I sent my regards to Nusret, a very nice man [who] loves Venezuela,” he told reporters Tuesday about the internet sensation who catapulted to fame for flamboyantly sprinkling salt on meat, according to Newsweek. “I even sat down in a chair of a true sultan. … We hugged like 100 times.” “Any member of the opposition can visit,” he added. A main course at Gokce’s restaurant Nusr-Et costs between $70 and $250 – the equivalent of between two and eight months’ salary in Venezuela on minimum wage. The impoverished nation has been ravaged by food shortages amid a years-long recession that’s been largely ignored by Maduro, who’s pinned the crisis on the US and Europe. “We shared a meal in a famous restaurant. I send a greeting from here to Nusret, who looked after us personally. We chatted, enjoyed our time with him. … He loves Venezuela,” Maduro said after returning from a trip to China, which included a stopover in Istanbul where he dined with Turkish authorities. With Post Wires<doc-sep>Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ate at the viral chef Salt Bae's restaurant in Istanbul on Monday. Food at the restaurant, Nusr Et, is very expensive. At the same time, Venezuela is struggling through hyperinflation, power cuts, and food shortages. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida slammed Salt Bae — whose real name is Nusret Gokce — for serving Maduro. Venezuela's president feasted on expensive steak at a celebrity chef's restaurant on Monday, a scene made striking by the fact that millions of people back home are starving. President Nicolás Maduro was seen dining with his wife on Monday at an Istanbul branch of Nusr Et, the international chain of restaurants owned by the Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, also known as "Salt Bae." Maduro was in Istanbul for a stop-off on his way from China, where he went to ask for more loans for his economically stricken country. Recent polls of Venezuelans show that many struggle to afford food, and the country often sees mass protests because of the economic hardship. The government has advised Venezuelans to breed rabbits for food as a way to beat their hunger. At one point in his meal, Maduro can be seen smoking a cigar and appearing to pose with Gokce as he was presented with a cigar and a T-shirt. Reuters also quoted him telling fellow diners it was "a once-in-a-lifetime moment." Watch the videos here: Gokce found international fame and earned his nickname in early 2017 after a video of his cutting up steak and sprinkling salt over it went viral. Meals at his chain restaurants have been panned as overly expensive. While the menu on Nusr Et's website shows no prices, steaks in his New York restaurant run from $70 to $275, according to the New York Observer. Gokce thanked Maduro for visiting the restaurant in at least two tweets on Monday, according to Bloomberg. Both of those tweets have since been deleted. Maduro confirmed the visit in a state broadcast on Monday. He said, according to Reuters: "Nusret attended to us personally. We were chatting, having a good time with him ... He loves Venezuela, he told me several times." Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, in August. Miraflores Presidential Palace via AP Meanwhile, Venezuela suffers Venezuela is mired in a profound economic crisis. The country is suffering from hyperinflation, powers cuts, and food shortages. Venezuela could see inflation as high as 1 million percent this year, according to a July forecast from the International Monetary Fund, with locals needing stacks and stacks of cash just to buy basic food items. A new study by the Venezuelan pollster Meganalisis found that 78.6% of the population found it difficult to feed themselves every day and that almost one in three Venezuelas could afford to eat only once a day. Maduro also devalued the country's currency, the bolivar, by 95% last month and pegged it to the petro, a state-backed cryptocurrency. Several Venezuelan women said they turned to sex work in neighboring Colombia because the economic crisis had become so bad. The Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, nicknamed "Salt Bae," found international fame in early 2017 when a video of his sprinkling salt on a piece of steak went viral. @nusr_et/Instagram 'This weirdo Salt Bae' Gokce received huge amounts of criticism for serving Maduro on Monday. Yusnaby Pérez, a journalist in Venezuela, posted a video of Maduro's meal with the caption "I wonder how every Venezuelan Chavista will feel tomorrow when they have to return to the daily titanic queue," a reference to the huge lines where people in Venezuela regularly wait for food. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida joined in the condemnation. He tweeted on Monday night: "I don't know who this weirdo #Saltbae is, but the guy he is so proud to host is not the President of #Venezuela. "He is actually the overweight dictator of a nation where 30% of the people eat only once a day & infants are suffering from malnutrition." In another tweet he provided the phone number and address of Gokce's Miami restaurant, encouraging constituents to protest.<doc-sep>
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ate at the viral chef Salt Bae's restaurant, Nusr-Et, in Istanbul on Monday. Many people, including US Sen. Marco Rubio, have criticized the chef for serving Maduro while people go hungry in Venezuela. Branches of Nusr-Et have gotten one-star reviews on sites like TripAdvisor from people expressing disgust at the support for Maduro. People are leaving one-star reviews on TripAdvisor and Google of restaurants run by the viral chef known as "Salt Bae" after he served an expensive steak dinner to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro this week. Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce, received widespread criticism after footage of him flamboyantly serving Maduro at an Istanbul branch of his Nusr-Et restaurant chain went viral. Gokce appears to have deleted two tweets promoting the meeting amid the backlash, which has focused on the poor optics of Maduro feasting on expensive steak while many of his people are starving because of Venezuela's crippled economy. Now, people have started using review platforms to punish Gokce with one-star reviews of Nusr-Et. Business Insider identified 15 one-star reviews across the portfolio of Nusr-Et restaurants, mainly of the Turkish branches. One review, written partly in Spanish, called Nusr-Et "immoral" for hosting Maduro. A review left on Tuesday. Trip Advisor Another for a branch in the Besiktas district of Istanbul said: "The owner of this restaurant supports a dictator who is killing millions in Venezuela. Don't support this type of restaurant. While Maduro is having a feast at his restaurant, millions are living in Venezuela without food, medicine." Another wrote: "Don't support the owner's lack of ethics and display of support to a character that is starving millions of people in Venezuela. This is simply disgusting. Don't know if dishes are good or not but you have to also take in consideration the place working ethics." The author attached photos of starving people in Venezuela. x Trip Advisor x Trip Advisor A user named Marco Gomez left a one-star review and called it "food for dictators," while someone else left a one-star review on the Besiktas restaurant's TripAdvisor page with a similar message, saying, "No more dictator support." Maduro was in Istanbul for a stop-off on his way from China, where he went to ask for more loans for his economically stricken country. Recent polls of Venezuelans have found that many struggle to afford food, and the country often sees mass protests because of economic hardship. The government has advised Venezuelans to breed rabbits for food as a way to beat their hunger. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida has been one of the most vocal critics of Gokce, tweeting on Monday, "This guy @nusr_ett who admires dictator @NicolasMaduro so much actually owns a steakhouse in, of all places, #Miami." He posted the Miami restaurant's phone number as well. Rubio told the Miami Herald on Tuesday: "This is someone who is celebrating a criminal. Nicolás Maduro is systematically starving the people of Venezuela." A Venezuelan protestor was outside the Miami restaurant on Tuesday holding a sign saying "Nusr-Et: We demand a PUBLIC and IMMEDIATE apology!" —Tomás Manrique Miami (@TManriqueMiami) September 19, 2018 A larger protest is scheduled for midday Wednesday, the Herald reported.