The man is a meat cutting machine. Before last year, not enough of the world knew who Nusret Gokce was. Then, on Instagram in January 2017, a video was taken of him on the patio of his Turkish steakhouse, flamboyantly cutting a tomahawk steak with flourishing knife strokes, until reaching the pinnacle of his culinary drama with a contorted arm pose that sprinkled salt down his forearm onto the fresh cut. Dressed in an exaggeratedly low-necked, tight white t-shirt, blacked out shades, and long hair tied back while cutting meat, the internet was parched with thirst and Salt Bae was born.

Salt Bae -- properly named Nusret Gokce -- went viral and skyrocketed to fame throughout 2017 and continues to ride the wave of his success, opening steakhouses in Miami and New York City. His restaurants are impressive establishments that reflect the spectacle that put him on the map around the world in the first place. Some 34% of Americans go out to eat casually once per week, but we can assure you that Gokce's restaurants are anything but casual. Now boasting the presence of celebrities, massive wait lists, and packed books every night they're open, the internet fame has been huge in his burgeoning success.

Called Nusr-Et his restaurant names are a clever little play on his own name Nusret, meaning "victory", with Et meaning "meat". It wasn't always millions of fans, celebrity appearances, and a multinational restaurateur life for Gokce, though. In Turkey, being a butcher was seen as a low-class job, generally looked upon scornfully (until his internet fame). Gokce left school when he was 13 years old and started working in restaurants. He traveled to learn about cutting meat, cooking, running restaurants, every morsel of knowledge he could gain. Eventually, he returned to Turkey, opened his namesake restaurant, and it gained the attention of a billionaire investor who helped him open places all around the Middle East. Shortly after, the Instagram video hit and thatreally did the trick.

Something of an industrial meat cutter himself, Gokce dazzles and literally throws commercial grade restaurant equipment around the kitchen with grace and confidence. Which, admittedly, for all the drama they're packed with, he's incredibly impressive and you can almost smell what's cooking through the screen. Gokce has 13 restaurants in the Middle East and the United States, with intentions of cutting meats and slashing steaks in more locations around the U.S. and Europe. We'll raise a glass to his success and stop in for a cut next time we're in town because if he's there, he'll certainly season it tableside and that's a spectacle we wouldn't want to miss.