Just when you thought the Salt Bae meme in the UAE was dying out…

Salt Bae, the much-loved (and imitated) chef that became the first non-Trump meme of 2017 got to meet with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, this week.

Ever since a video of the UAE- and Turkey-based chef Nusret Gökçe slicing up an Ottoman steak and salting it with flair at his new Abu Dhabi restaurant went viral, Gökçe has received some intense internet fame (in fact, he now has 2.9 million followers on Insta’. He had one million a few weeks ago).

With a branch of Nusr-et Steakhouse in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, as well as more in Turkey, the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince popped by the capital branch recently, and he even took a snap with Gökçe himself.

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WHAT MADE SALT BAE SO ENRAPTURING?

As good as the food looks in the clip that went viral, it was Gökçe’s flair that drew the crowd. But it wasn’t even the masterful manner in which he carved the meat, it was the magical way that he sprinkled the meat with salt afterwards. Hence the name, Salt Bae.

Here’s the video that was filmed at the newly opened Nusr-et outlet in Abu Dhabi.

Wait until the end…

Ottoman steak ?

A video posted by nusr_et (@nusr_et) on

Salt Bae is no stranger to fame, however. Prior to going viral, the Turkish chef already had one million followers on Instagram.

But after Bruno Mars tweeted about Gökçe, the serial steak-carver was catapulted into multi-million stardom.

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