A sommelier who was fired from Salt Bae’s restaurant for ‘eating an avocado after 5.30pm’ has branded the eatery a ‘toxic working environment’.
Guillermo Perez, 30, from Madrid, compared Nusr-Et, in Knightsbridge, central London, to a ‘McDonald’s for rich people’ for charging guests extortionate prices – despite allegedly serving them ‘frozen chips with Heinz ketchup’.
Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe rose to fame back in 2017 for his unusual meat seasoning technique in which he lets salt run down his elbow, and has often been spotted slicing meat for customers at his pricey restaurant.
Specials include a Golden Giant Tomahawk steak for £1,450, Golden Giant Striplion for £1,350 and Golden Kafes for £500 – while a simple burger and coke will set you back £100 and £9 respectively.
David Beckham, Jason Statham and Naomi Campbell are among the famous faces to have eaten at Nusret’s restaurants – which include locations in New York, Dubai and Istanbul.
But sommelier of eight years Mr Perez, who has lived in the UK since 2012, claimed the TikTok star’s London outlet was ‘immoral’ in a scathing attack, adding that bottles of wine were being marked up by ‘incredible’ amounts.
‘Bottles worth £1,000 would be sold for up to £3,000, for example,’ Mr Perez told MailOnline, ‘Of course you can charge people whatever price you want, but it’s pretty immoral when the quality of the food and service does not match the price.
Guillermo Perez, 30, from Madrid, compared Nusr-Et, in Knightsbridge, central London, to a ‘McDonald’s for rich people’ for charging guests extortionate prices – despite serving them ‘frozen chips with Heinz ketchup’
Salt Bae, real name Nusret Gokce, owns a chain of Nusr-Et restaurants and is known for his theatrical salt-sprinkling antics
A slew of bad reviews left the restaurant ranked at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor in December
‘One day I saw a big bag of frozen chips and I thought ‘really? That’s what we are serving people?’
‘And they had Heinz ketchup and mayonnaise, which you can get from the shop.’
It follows a swathe of savage reviews on TripAdvisor, which claimed the meat was ‘smelly’ and ‘not at all tasty’ – with one telling would-be punters to ‘avoid it like the plague.’
Mr Perez continued: ‘I have worked in Mayfair and other good restaurants, but my experience there was very disappointing.’
He added: ‘I think people there want to show how much money they have, almost everybody paid in cash.’
Mr Perez was dragged into HR on January 20 after he was berated by a chef in the staff canteen – which is shared with a hotel – for eating his own avocado and rice.
Workers from Nusr-Et are not allowed to eat food from the canteen after 5.30pm, Mr Perez said.
‘I arrived with my own food at 5.35pm and took a plate and the chef started shouting at me telling me I can’t eat from the canteen,’ alleged Mr Perez, whose past work experience includes the upmarket Sushisamba, ‘I tried to explain that the avocado was mine and that I was just taking a plate and some cutlery and he accused me of being aggressive and called my general manager.’
Within 30 minutes, Mr Perez was told to report to HR, where he was chastised for ‘arguing with the chef’ and told not to return after that day.
He was told he would not receive his week’s holiday pay or work a notice period.
Mr Perez, who has trained as a sommelier in Argentina and worked in top restaurants in Mayfair and central London, said: ‘I told them that it was not fair because I had not received any verbal or written warning, and I had done nothing wrong.
‘I wanted to take legal action but I could not really do anything because I was still on my probation period.’
Mr Perez said he pressed HR for better justification for his sacking, before he was told that he had not sold enough wine.
‘I asked her to look up the latest sales figures, which showed I had actually sold the second-most out of all the sommeliers – even though I had worked fewer hours, so their reason was a lie,’ he claimed.
‘They also said when they hired me that my performance would not be rated on how much I sold, but then they complained that I did not sell enough in my first month.’
Mr Perez (picutred) said he pressed HR for better justification for his sacking, before he was told that he had not sold enough wine
The upscale eatery chain is owned by Turkish butcher-turned-chef Nusret Gokce, whose theatrical salt-sprinkling antics have earned him a celebrity following including David Beckham (pictured together)
Rumours of Salt Bae’s London branch had been circulating since 2017, before finally opening last year
Mr Perez said the working environment was ‘toxic’ due to the managers and employees who had been brought over from Greece, where Salt Bae’s first restaurant was launched.
He accused the managers of favouring the staff brought over from Mykonos, as they were often given the biggest or most important tables to serve.
When Mr Perez tried to challenge the system, he claims a staff member tried to sabotage his service by knocking him as he served £60 shots to guests.
‘The staff brought from Greece and Turkey were terrible and unprofessional,’ he claimed, ‘Everyone else, who had been trained in the UK or had experience in the hospitality sector in London were lovely and did a great job.’
Mr Perez is joining a cruise ship in two months to be a sommelier for a luxury onboard restaurant.
But it means he has been left jobless and unable to find work after being unexpectedly let go from Salt Bae’s restaurant.
‘I’ve had to use my own savings to pay rent and live because of course no one wants to hire someone for just one-and-a-half or two months,’ he said. ‘I wish I had never accepted a job there.’
It comes after diners were left less than impressed with the glitzy eatery in December, when a slew of bad reviews left it at number 20,491 out of 23,811 in the capital on TripAdvisor.
Many diners have been left less than impressed with the glitzy restaurant in Knightsbridge, leaving a host of one and two star reviews online
One person commented: ‘Do not be fooled by the glitz and glam and waste your money.
‘Terrible food. Meat was not at all tasty. Ended up going for a £5 kebab after a £300 bill… this place is the biggest joke in London.’
Meanwhile another wrote: ‘Insult to humanity. Worst food, worst service. Paid over £1,800 for three of us.
‘Poor quality, smelly meat, small portions. Rather spend £50 in the local restaurant, will be better! Never again! Stay away, it’s a death trap!’
A third added: ‘Avoid like the plague.
‘I travel all over the world conducting my business and have eaten in many many restaurants but this is the worst one yet.
‘The ones in L.A, Turkey and Dubai are amazing and I couldn’t recommend them highly enough but I would never return to Nusr-et in London.
‘I dined here with some business associates and felt embarrassed afterwards that I’d chosen such a god awful place to dine in. This place is all hype and no substance give it a miss or dine at your own peril.’
MailOnline has contacted Nusr-Et for comment.
