Henri V.
Yelp
Nusr-Et Steakhouse is located on North Canon Drive, aka restaurant row. It currently occupies the space previously held by Citizen and countless other restaurants that initially was popular and then faded and bit the dust.
I am among the few that seriously didn't know Nusr-Et aka Salt Bae, his theatrics and/or his social media presence, had to Google.
Evidently, Salt Bae is a chef from Turkey and with help of social media, silent business partners who financially banked rolled the expansion of this brand, has opened multiple steakhouse branches globally, nationally and now here in Beverly Hills.
This restaurant opened last May during the COVID pandemic with limited dining capacity. The seating capacity expanded to the outdoor seating with the addition of the elaborate tent set out on the street. This tent precedes the Spago tent and the view Spago had of Canon Drive. Both share the same valet service.
As COVID restrictions eased, family, friends and business associates have traveled to LA these pass couple of weeks and this restaurant was on their list of restaurants to visit. I've dined here almost half a dozen times now, as an invited guest. There are several outstanding high end steakhouses in LA here: Mastros, Cut, Spago, BOA and others so I was not sure just how these SaltBae steaks would measure up. Turns out, the preferred VIP choices are the steaks wrapped in leaf flakes made of edible gold. These golden choices are also on smaller items: burgers, lattes and the golden baklava.
My dining experiences included the golden tomahawk and the golden baklava, both well prepared, presented nicely and were delicious. Being aware that this is a steakhouse, I wanted to focus on the steak options on every visit and not deviate from steak. I have had the Salt Bae tomahawk, golden tomahawk, Amour preferred golden steak, steak sushi and burger...yes meat, meat and more meat, keto dieters rejoice!
In my initial visits, I was not interested in having anyone pour salt rolling off their hairy sweaty arm into the food, ewww. And my subsequent visits, I maintained my dislike for the salt roll theatrics.
However, I was receptive with Salt Bae coming to our table to cut our tomahawk steak so I can witness his stance and knife skills performance...because Salt Bae's presence, performance can be the sole reason for the outrageous $$$$. Again, not my choice to dine here, as I my favorite is next door at Spago, where everything is no doubt always first class.
It was a good thing Salt Bae wore a face mask and gloves, because I'm not a fan of added germs exposure to our food especially during COVID.
It was the first time ever meeting Salt Bae, who was height challenged, not statuesque, but was nonetheless cordial and had a cool demeanor. Overall, staff service was okay not excellent, as the staff are not as professionally attentive. The vibe was lively and from appearances no dress code, as most diner's attire was casual.
I was delighted to be an invited guest and dine here on multiple occasions. I would recommend this steakhouse only if you've never dined here and witnessed the theatrics of SaltBae, who is allegedly the newbie of celebrity chefs? Who knows, I don't care to know. I do know he's not celebrity status as my fav, the late great Anthony Bourdain.
Unlike the previous restaurants that held this space, perhaps with SaltBae's presence, theatric performance, perhaps this currently popular restaurant will not lose its golden touch popularity and bite the dust.