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Salt Bae feeding the pigeons
Photograph: Time Out

This is not a drill: Salt Bae is in the park feeding pigeons

The meme chef is ingratiating himself with London’s wildlife

Joe Mackertich
Written by
Joe Mackertich
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Hey it’s Salt Bae! The half-man half-meme whose zeitgeist-bating Knightsbridge branch of Nusr-Et Steakhouse can’t seem to steer clear of controversy. What’s he up to now?

I’ll tell you what he’s up to, he’s feeding the pigeons in the park. Like a real, human boy! It’s quite alarming to see Nusret Gökçe (his IRL name) in such a mundane London environment. It’s like spotting Kendrick Lamar in Poundland or all seven members of BTS watching the floating Yodas in Covent Garden. It’s what’s known in academic circles as cognitive dissonance. You might also call it weird and wrong

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A post shared by Nusr_et#Saltbae (@nusr_et)

Where is he, exactly? Well the smart money is on Hyde Park as it’s directly behind his jaw-droppingly expensive restaurant. But which bit of Hyde Park? Do let us know if you can pinpoint Bae’s location.

Nice to see he treats all animals equally, though. He essentially provides the same service to pigeons as he does high-paying meat enthusiasts in his restaurant. Is he making a brave, meta comment on the nature of commerce? Are we... all just pigeons to Salt Bae? That’s some 4D chess, right there. Never change, you salty legend, you. 

Side note: we’re fully hoping that the fetching bin-bag jacket he’s wearing in the video appears as official Salt Bae merch sooner rather than later. 

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You can create Salt Bae’s criminally expensive gold steak at home for a fraction of the price.

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