Raven hair gelled back, a mischievous glance over sunglasses he hardly ever takes off, one toned arm raised in a salt-sprinkling gesture, Nusret Gokce, better known as Salt Bae, is more of an international social media icon than a chef. His latest moment of glory came when the French Interior Ministry tweeted a photo of him as he “sprinkled” his vote in a ballot box, clad in a white T-shirt with the slogan “Oui, je vote” ("Yes, I vote") during the first round of the French presidential elections April 23.

With 7 million followers on Instagram, seven steak and burger houses in Turkey and in the United Arab Emirates, Gokce refers to himself as a “butcher” who has worked hard and made it big. His next stops are to be New York and London.

Gokce, born in Erzurum in 1983 as the son of a coal miner, admits readily that some people find him uncouth. In a January interview, he said his family had no money, so he stopped his education without completing the compulsory eight years and started working as a butcher’s apprentice. “I speak no foreign language; my language is meat,” he said.

His brand Nusr-et (a play of words on his name and “et” — which means meat in Turkish) was bought by Turkish business mogul Ferit Sahenk in 2011, a year after it was founded. Since then, it has shown a steady upsurge both in its number of stores and the fame of Salt Bae.