Sarma Melngailis
Sarma Melngailis | |
|---|---|
| Born | September 10, 1972 Newton, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Chef, author, entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-founder of Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck; convicted of fraud |
Sarma Melngailis (born September 10, 1972) is an American chef, author of cookbooks, entrepreneur, and convicted felon. She was the co-founder and proprietor of Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck, two vegan raw food dining establishments based in New York City. These venues earned spots in New York Magazine’s Top 100 Restaurants and were featured on Forbes All Star New York Eateries list for five years running. Both restaurants ceased operations in 2016 after employees left due to unpaid salaries. After leaving New York, Melngailis was found in Tennessee and was arrested on fraud charges in 2016; she was convicted the following year.
Early life and education
Born on September 10, 1972, Sarma Melngailis grew up in Newton, Massachusetts. Her father, John Melngailis, a physicist affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), originally hailed from Riga, Latvia. Her culinary passion was inspired early on by her mother, who worked as a professional chef. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old.
She graduated from Newton North High School before earning a B.A. and a B.S. in economics from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1994. Prior to pursuing culinary training, Melngailis gained experience at investment firms such as Bear Stearns, Bain Capital, and a high-yield fund at CIBC. She then enrolled at New York’s French Culinary Institute, completing her studies in 1999.
Restaurants
In 2001, Melngailis partnered with chef and author Matthew Kenney, her boyfriend at the time, to open Commissary; the restaurant closed its doors in March 2003. Afterwards, she worked as a consultant for Jeffrey Chodorow’s China Grill Management.
By June 2004, Melngailis collaborated with Chodorow and Kenney to launch Pure Food and Wine, recognized as New York City’s first fine dining raw food restaurant. Situated near Manhattan’s Gramercy Park, it received accolades including placement in New York magazine’s "Top 100 Restaurants," inclusion in "The Platt 101," and five consecutive years on Forbes magazine's "All Star New York Eateries." In 2009, due to Kenney’s limited financial involvement, Chodorow provided Melngailis with a $2.1 million loan enabling her to buy out Kenney’s stake, granting her full ownership based on her financial acumen.
Expanding the brand, One Lucky Duck Juice and Takeaway opened in 2007 as an offshoot of Pure Food and Wine. The OneLuckyDuck.com website debuted in 2005 offering raw and organic snacks, ingredients, skincare items, supplements, books, apparel, and household goods. A second One Lucky Duck location operated within New York City’s Chelsea Market between December 2009 and January 2015.
From 2014 through July 2016, One Lucky Duck extended its presence to San Antonio, Texas—marking its first venture outside New York City—before closing amid Melngailis’s legal troubles.
Controversy
In January 2015, employees at Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck staged a walkout over unpaid wages for one month; this was the second such incident within twelve months. In response to the closures in February 2015 via a now-deleted blog post, Melngailis apologized while explaining that tight profit margins caused by debts and expensive ingredients delayed payroll. She also confessed to missing payments on her own rent. During this period of unrest, she offered staff differing reasons for payment delays including complications related to switching banking institutions.
Although Pure Food and Wine, One Lucky Duck, and OneLuckyDuck.com reopened in April 2015, most employees did not return. By July of that year another walkout occurred due to continued unpaid wages. Ultimately both businesses shut down permanently; Pure Food and Wine closed in spring 2016.
Arrest and guilty plea
On May 12, 2016, Melngailis and her then-spouse Anthony Strangis were taken into custody in Sevierville, Tennessee following an incident involving a pizza order from Domino's Pizza. At the time, they were lodged in separate hotel accommodations.
Strangis was subject to arrest warrants on charges including grand larceny, fraudulent schemes, and violations of labor laws. Melngailis faced accusations of grand larceny, tax fraud, fraudulent schemes, as well as labor law infractions.
Prosecutors extended a plea agreement to Melngailis on December 19, 2016, suggesting a prison term ranging from one to three years. Her legal team reportedly intended to mount a defense based on "coercive control."
In May 2017, Melngailis admitted guilt for embezzling more than $2 million from investors, engaging in fraudulent schemes, and committing criminal tax fraud. The court sentenced her to close to four months of incarceration. Subsequently, she initiated divorce proceedings against Strangis in May 2018.
The 2022 Netflix documentary series Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. explores Melngailis’ financial misconduct alongside her relationship with Strangis. Melngailis has challenged the series’ portrayal, arguing that it contains inaccuracies designed to amplify dramatic effect.
Bibliography
External links
- 1972 births
- American restaurateurs
- American women restaurateurs
- American people of Latvian descent
- Living people
- People from Newton, Massachusetts
- Businesspeople from New York City
- American women company founders
- American company founders
- Newton North High School alumni
- American people convicted of fraud
- 21st-century American women writers
- 21st-century American businesswomen
- Bain Capital people
- Bear Stearns people