The fall of a glamorous restaurateur who was a favorite of New York society and called the “queen of vegan cuisine” will be told in a new series on Netflix, which describes how she ended up in prison after disappearing with $ 2 million.
The four-part series Bad Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives, which tells the story of the 49-year-old restaurateur who ran New York celebrity Pure Food & Wine, promises to rival other Netflix documentaries, including Tinder Swindler and Tiger King. intrigue and crazy twists in the plot.
From Tiger King executive producer Dan Lagana and Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened director Chris Smith, the documentary’s trailer sets the stage for a story that is stranger than fiction.
Once dubbed the “queen of vegans”, Melngailis’ luxury restaurant was a favorite of A-listers, including Chelsea Clinton, Tom Brady, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson until 2015, where she and her now estranged husband Ant disappeared. Strangis with $ 2 million, leaving staff unpaid and investors out of pocket.
Melngailis claims that Strangis cheated on her and controlled her directing money from her restaurant to him, promising to expand her food empire and – unbelievably – make her beloved dog immortal.
Netflix has just released a trailer for Bad Vegan: Fame, Fraud, Fugitives, a four-part series telling the story of restaurateur Sarma Melngailis, 49, of New York’s Pure Food & Wine, pictured
Strangis (right) with Melngailis (left) on Twitter, where he left Shane Fox. Melngailis claims he tricked her into directing his restaurant money to him, promising to expand her food empire and – unbelievably – make her beloved dog immortal.
From January 2014 to January 2015, Melngailis transferred more than $ 1.6 million from business accounts to his personal bank account.
She disappeared in 2015, but was caught by police in 2016 after ordering Domino’s Pizza.
Melngailis – who also wrote several cookbooks on raw food – and Strangis took money from investors, paid $ 400,000 in taxes and left employees out of pocket.
All the while, she spent $ 2 million on Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun Casinos, luxury jewelry, travel to Europe and travel with Uber.
Melngailis’ camp operated while under her husband’s forced control.
She claims that Strangis would have warned her that if he did not pass certain tests to prove his loyalty, such as giving him money or having blindfolded oral sex, forces controlled by his brother would “gut” him. they will come for her.
According to Vanity Fair, Melngailis claims that Strangis, who has gained weight since they met, told her that tackling obesity is another test.
He also told her that her favorite pit bull, Leon, was his dog in a previous life and the three had lived together for a thousand years.
Melngailis believed that if she did what her husband told her, “Leon will also be immortal and safe to be with me forever,” Vanity Fair reported.
Strangis denies this account.
Melngailis is very attached to her dog Leon, pictured, who she rescued before meeting Strangis
Melngailis’s restaurant was beloved by celebs, including Woody Harrelson, left and Jason Lewis, right
Melngailis opens up about her shocking story in the upcoming Netflix do-series, which will drop on March 16 on the streaming platform
Sarma Melngailis pictured in Brooklyn court before she was sentenced to three months at Rikers Island
From January 2014 to January 2015, Melngailis transferred more than $1.6 million from the business accounts to her personal bank account. In 2015, she disappeared. But was caught by police in 2016 after ordering a Domino’s Pizza. She is pictured in court
In the early 2010s’, Melngailis was seen as a successful restaurateur, a Vegan food pioneer and a published author
Melngailis with Leon. The foodie disappeared with $2million taken from her own restaurant in Mai 2015
The glamorous restaurateur was a favorite of food critics. Her Instagram biography states that she is still “grieving” for Pure Food and Wine
The problems began at the restaurant in January 2015, when 60 employees said they were not being paid and subsequently organized numerous walks and protests.
Melngailis told his employees that the delay in payment was due to a change of bank, but told a magazine that the same month it was due to debts in the restaurant and due to the high price of first-class ingredients.
In May 2015, she and Strangis disappeared with the money and the restaurant closed permanently in July of that year.
The new trailer begins with a recorded telephone conversation between Melngailis and Strangis.
Sarma was the vegan darling of foodie New York in the 2010s and had published two vegan cookbooks by the time trouble began
The chef, who put vegan cuisine on the map in New York, is seldom ever seen without her dog Leon
The restaurateur will give her side of the story in Netflix’s upcoming documentary on Pure Food and Wine
The restaurateur also welcomed Kyle MacLachlan, right, before her establishment closed permanently in 2015
The New York restaurant was a night life hotspot that was beloved for its raw food vegan recipes
In 2015, the restaurant staff left twice, asking Melngailis to pay them after she failed to do so repeatedly.
“So I just have to do what you say and listen to your instructions,” the restaurateur is heard to say.
– You signed this. He told me you wanted to be happy forever. “If I tell you to take all your money out of the bank and set it on fire, do it,” Strangis said.
Former employees and sources close to the case are seen talking face to face in a camera about the restaurateur’s restaurant and how it was a “great place to work.”
They also talk about the “mysterious” circumstances surrounding the marriage of Melngailis and Strangis, which suggests that there may have been extortion.
Sarma with fellow restaurateur Tobin Britt in 2009. Actress Daryl Hannah, right, was also among Sarma’s fans at the height of her restaurant career.
Melngailis spent three months in prison for his crimes after his trial ended in January 2017.
The programme explored how the successful restaurateur, who was once dubbed the Vegan Queen, fell into crime
How Sarma Melngailis went from ‘plant food Queen’ to ‘Vegan Bernie Madoff’
2004: Sarma Melngailis opens Pure Food & Wine in New York
2005: She opens One Lucky Duck Juice and Takeaway next to the restaurant.
2011: Sarma meets Anthony Strangis on Twitter
December 2012: Strangis and Melngailis get married in New York.
2013: She introduces Strangis as a manager in her restoration business.
January 2015: Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck staff left en masse because Melngailis did not pay his employees for a month.
Melngailis told his employees that the delay in payments was due to a change of bank.
February 2015: Melngailis claims in an interview that the delay in wages is actually caused by the restaurant’s debts and the price of ingredients.
May 2015: Newspapers report that the restaurateur has disappeared with $ 2 million.
July 2015: The staff leaves the restaurant again and it is closed permanently.
May 2016: Melngailis and Strangis are arrested in Seaville, Tennessee.
November 2016: Melngailis claims to have been under Strangis’ control.
May 2017: Melngailis pleaded guilty to stealing more than $ 200,000 from an investor and plotting to defraud, as well as charges of criminal tax fraud.
June 2017: A former restaurateur is in prison for three months.
May 2018: She filed for divorce from Strangis.
Melngailis met with Strangis in 2011 and brought him on board as a restaurant manager in 2013.
The relationship surprised many, and even Strangis’ own stepmother wondered what the successful, attractive businesswoman had seen in her overweight and presumed gambling son.
In 2016, a source close to the former restaurateur claimed that Strangis resorted to cult-like techniques such as gaslighting, sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation to control her as she spoke to Vanity Fair.
The same source added that Strangis had convinced Melngailis that her computer had been hacked to obtain her passwords for all her devices, including e-mail, telephone and bank accounts.
Strangis denied the allegations through his lawyer at the time.
The writer Porochista Hakpur, who was a close friend of Sarma’s at the time, told the magazine: “Sarma has lost his mind. She really believed that her dog would live forever.
Speaking after the news of the arrest, Ron Levine, who said he was an investor, wrote on Facebook: “She stole about $ 1 million from investors, including me, and disappeared last year.
The FBI was looking for her, and she has a bunch of cases waiting for her in New York.
He added: “I visited her restaurant every year and I was happy to help her business, which I loved.
“It was a sad and shocking betrayal. She hurt a lot of people. ‘
Another investor said at the time that Melngailis’ actions were “unsuitable for a vegan.”
She pleaded guilty in May 2017 to stealing more than $ 200,000 from an investor and fraud plans, as well as charges of criminal tax fraud. She received a sentence of nearly four months in prison.
She was sentenced to three months in the infamous New York Rikers Jail.
As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay $ 1.5 million in restitution payments.
Strangis pleaded guilty to four counts of fourth-degree theft. He was sentenced to one year in prison and five years probation and had to pay $ 840,000 to investors
He was released after spending a year behind bars in the Rikers.
Since his release from prison in the fall of 2017, Melngailis has kept quiet, sharing glimpses of his life on Instagram and his blog.
In 2019, she said she wants to get her brand back, but has no plans to make that a reality.
She has not blogged since, but remains active on Instagram, sharing photos of her dog from her daily life. She worked with Netflix on Bad Vegan, which will be released in March to tell her story.
In the Netflix docu-series, a woman is seen asking what a ‘meat suit’ is, teasing the question will be answered in the programme
The blonde beauty claims she was charmed by Strangis and coerced into committing the crimes
Strangis promised Melngailis he could make her beloved dog Leon, left, immortal, and would help expand her food empire
In January 2015, 60 officials said they were not being paid and subsequently staged numerous walks and protests, asking Melngailis to pay their salaries. The successful author was nowhere to be seen
Strangis made the strange claim that he could make Melngailis’ rescue dog Leon immortal. The dog is still alive today