Last December, few realised the presence of Nusret Gökçe, more commonly known as Salt Bae, in Athens shortly before Christmas. However, the famous Kurdish-Turkish chef laid the foundations for his new business venture by choosing Mykonos again.
Under extreme secrecy, the famous chef came quietly, made contacts and left quietly - he is known for his secrecy in both his professional and personal life.
The businessman Konstantinos Koroniotis, who has many years of presence on the Island of the Winds, where he is active in real estate, was the one who convinced him to open the second restaurant on the island and accompanied him throughout his stay in Athens.
The two men, after all, have known each other for many years.
From the moment Nusret expressed the desire to open a new store, the right place and the right person from the restaurant had to be found.
Manos Pentarakis, a Cretan who is behind the restaurant "Lotus" , the well-known "Aroma" in Matogiannia and "Familia", was finally the one who entered the game for Nusret's new venture with mediated by Koroniotis.
The negotiations lasted three whole months, until the happy ending with the signing of the cooperation agreements between the two sides, which, despite the whispers on the island, did not want the slightest leak for the upcoming agreement.
It was finalised early last week when the final details were adjusted and now the brand new "Salt Bae" is preparing feverishly.
Both sides want to be ready to operate around mid-May to win the entire season this year, which is expected to be very competitive .
"Salt Bae" will be housed in Goumenio Square, where the "Familia" was located until last year - a beautiful restaurant with an emphasis on good meat, and will now accommodate 180 people on a daily basis.
The former restaurant "Familia" which will house the new business venture of the famous chef, will have an emphasise on burgers.
At the same time, details remain for the former butcher, who became a star of meat and 43,500,000 followers on Instagram, to acquire his own private residence on the island.
Last year he fed all the Euro stars who took a vacation in Mykonos, serving his "golden" steaks and making very strong receipts for another season.
From this year, his "golden" burgers in Chora take over, with the cheapest costing around 50 euros and the most expensive flying at 170 euros!
Nusret loved Mykonos from the first moment he set foot on the island, when in 2019 he closed the deal with Zannis Francesco and Sami Ibrahim to operate "Nusr-Et".
The place was ideal - where "Casa Tu" was housed for one season, with a great view of Chora and after the relevant renovations it opened at the beginning of June.
It was already expected that it would be a disaster, but it took only a few hours to hear everywhere about the new restaurant of the Kurdish chef.
The counter stopped at 11,312,500 euros, while the wait for a table could exceed one hour, something that is expected to happen with the new "Salt Bae".
By the end of April, the staff of the new restaurant will be hired, which will be completely different from "Nusr-Et", as it focuses exclusively on burgers, French fries and just two types of steak.
The prices will definitely have a Mykonos aroma, with the cheapest burger starting from 40-45 euros while a portion of parmesan flavored fries with truffle will be served to the customer for 25 euros.
Of course, those who want something more and want to have Nusret over their head, should order the golden burger for 170 euros - the bread is covered with edible gold leaf - or the golden steak of 350 euros!
The total investment in the new project of the famous Kurd with the 21 restaurants in different countries of the world will reach 500,000 euros.
Manos Pentarakis and Konstantinos Koroniotis are very happy for the deal they made.
According to initial estimates, the turnover of "Salt Bae" for this season is expected to exceed 4 million euros, as it is considered certain that "there will be a train" on an island where all the famous catering brands now want to be present.
Last summer, Nusret flooded his personal Instagram account with videos from Mykonos, while he was doing his exercise or going for a walk in Chora and greeting elderly people.
The most touching and undoubtedly the most communicative was the one that shows him visiting an elderly woman from Mykonos at her house, entering her kitchen and cooking a steak for her himself.
Enchanted by the island, he has been looking to buy a permanent home since last year, something he decided after the first triumphant season of his restaurant.
Eventually the right house was found, it is very close to Chora - a breath, say those who know well - and Nusret, after seeing it, chose to buy it.
It is a villa of about 300 sq.m., which many might have passed without paying much attention to, but not the Kurd who wears sunglasses day and night, a trademark of those of his quirky style.
The one who made celebrities from all over flock to his restaurant last summer to see him cut their golden steaks and pour salt on them in his characteristic way, thanks to which he became famous.
This house is an old Mykonian three storey house.
It does not have the modern comforts that the newly built villas on the Island of the Winds have and it definitely needs a major renovation, while as paradoxical as it sounds, there is no swimming pool.
But this is something that did not bother Nusret at all, since he did not want special luxuries, not even a swimming pool, but he wanted to find a house that he would like and could design it as he wanted.
The house will cost the celebrity chef around 2 million euros, offering him a great view of Chora.
He has found everything with the owner and some procedural details remain to get the final signatures to the house he longs for on this dry Aegean rock that turned out to be "gold", just like his very expensive steaks and burgers.
READ MORE: Salt Bae visits a yiayia in Mykonos and cooks for her.