Protesters target Salt Bae’s London steak restaurant

Activists have targeted the Knightsbridge steak restaurant owned by Salt Bae.

The Animal Rebellion group, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, said eight people entered the Nusr-Et steakhouse in the upmarket central London district at about 6pm and sat at tables which were already reserved.

Salt Bae, whose real name is Nusret Gokce and who shared a picture of himself at the World Cup on Friday, became a viral internet hit for his technique of sprinkling salt on to his dishes.

The protest group said in a press release it is calling for “a plant-based food system and mass rewilding”.

Student Ben Thomas, 20, said: “Restaurants like these are symbolic of a broken system.

“Whilst two million people are relying on food banks in the UK right now, influencer chefs are selling gold-plated steaks for more than £1,000.

“Steaks, and other red meats, that we know carry the highest environmental impacts.”

The protesters said staff physically removed them from the venue “tougher than police would do it”.

Ben Thomas, 20, said: “We’re in this restaurant to show the inequality in lifestyle during this cost-of-living crisis with people out in this fine dining establishment while others can’t heat their homes. “We’re a group of non-violent protesters also campaigning for a plant-based food system.

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“We just sat there, wait staff were quite civil, but the members of the public – two of them got quite aggressive at one point. “The woman kept giving me really dirty looks just for being there. The customers clapped as we were picked up and taken outside.” Orin Cooley-Greene, 21, said: “It was tougher than police would do it.”

The Metropolitan Police said it had been called to Nusr-Et on Saturday but later said police attendance was not required as the protesters had left. The force said: “At 18:08hrs on Saturday, 3 December police were made aware of a protest at a restaurant in Knightsbridge, SW1. The group subsequently left the area and police attendance was not required.”

It comes weeks after a similar stunt at Gordon Ramsay’s three-star Michelin restaurant in Chelsea.