A Second Act For\xa0Bad Vegan’s\xa0 Sarma Melngailis |
|
|
About six months afterBad Vegancame out on Netflix, Sarma Melngailis sat on the floor of her old Gramercy restaurant, Pure Food and Wine. She took out her phone and began filming herself. The space — where Alec Baldwin and Gisele Bünchden once came for raw vegan lasagna and master-cleanse-tinis — was empty and dark, formerly brick-red walls whitewashed. “It feels strange,” she says, beginning to cry. “I’m just grateful to be back and excited to be able to tell people and really happy to be doing this, just coming back with a solid foundation and coming back as a different person.”
The documentary series had been a massive hit — directed by Chris Smith (who’d producedTiger Kingjust two years before), it was watched for nearly 30 million hours in its first five days. The show depicted the years Melngailis, spent under the control of her con man ex-husband, Anthony Strangis. He’d promised her and her pit bull, Leon, immortality in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars, leading them to dupe investors in the restaurant, leave workers unpaid, and finally bankrupt the place. The couple were eventually arrested at a hotel outside Dollywood in 2016 when he ordered pizza using his real name and were sentenced to pay \\$844,000 restitution to investors and serve time at Rikers — her four months, him a year. \xa0 With the show being a massive success, it didn’t take long for former associates to approach Sarma Melngailis for a follow-up. Will we seeBad Vegan, part 2?\xa0 |
|
|
When she saw the series for the first time — a week or two before its release — she was immediately furious. “I blurted out, ‘What the fuck, I fucking hate that ending,’” she says. The marketing upset her, too — she was incensed to spot a spoof promotional reel for a fake wellness product called “Perpetual Pup,” promising canine immortality and warning “excessive wire transfers may occur.” |
|
|
Melngailis really wanted the restaurant to open again. It was the last thing she’d done independently before Strangis took control of her life, and she believed in the mission — showing people plant-based food could be both healthy and fun. In an old journal, she once wrote a promise to the restaurant: “I will save and protect you.” |
|
|
Nothing had ever moved into the former Pure Food and Wine space. So,\xa0 Mark Emms,Bad Veganproducer and Pure Food customer, \xa0suggested — why don’t they reopen it? And film the process for a follow-up documentary? |
|
|
A new deal with Mark Emms and former Pure Food investor Jeffrey Chodorow, a missing salary and health insurance, group therapy, Bella Thorne’s role in the reopening, and a lawsuit threat—uncover the full story atNew York\xa0Magazine. |
|
|
Popular With\xa0New YorkReaders |
|
|
Vox Media, LLC
1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. |
\xa0\xa0 https://link.nymag.com/oc/611a318d9063ba338d0c9636k83nr.1b7x/ea3db7b7 |
|
|
https://link.nymag.com/oc/611a318d9063ba338d0c9636k83nr.1b7x/ea3db7b7 |
|
|
|
