The arrest of Sarma Melngailis unquestionably affected her eating place Pure Food and Wine, however what about her to-go carrier, One Lucky Duck? Is it nonetheless open lately?

Before her 2016 fraud scandal, Sarma Melngailis was once at the top of her game in the food industry. In 2004, Sarma established Pure Food and Wine in New York City with investor Jeffrey Chodorow and then-boyfriend/chef Matthew Kenney. The eating place became a pioneer of upscale vegan eating and required all of Sarma's time, effort, and cash. However, her onerous paintings in the end paid off, as she soon was referred to as the “Queen of Vegan Cuisine.”

In the wake of her success, Sarma sought to develop her trade even further with new locations all over the world, however she began first with a juice bar across the corner. As Jeffrey Chodorow explains in the Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan, One Lucky Duck Juice & Take Away was one of the first of its kind. While fresh-pressed vegetable juices, nut milks, and dairy-free desserts are not unusual nowadays, on the time, Sarma used to be paving the way in which for raw, vegan food.

Unfortunately, her dreams of global enlargement came crashing down together with the businesses she then owned.

Sarma Melnagailis misplaced her companies after she allegedly escaped with Anthony Strangis.

As the takeaway and retail element of Pure Food and Wine, Sarma, Matthew, and Jeffrey opened One Lucky Duck around the corner from the eating place in 2005. Soon after the juice bar opened, Sarma got its emblem, a black duck, tattooed on her shoulder to solidify her self belief within the trade. "This is the logo of my company," she says Bad Vegan, pointing to the tattoo. "If I do something like this, then I have to make it work."

Over the following a number of years, Sarma successfully ran One Lucky Duck and Pure Food and Wine. She even opened a second One Lucky Duck location within the Chelsea Market in 2009.

However, in 2012, Sarma married con guy Anthony Strangis, who she first knew as Shane Fox. Over the direction in their marriage, Anthony convinced her to transfer a total of $1.6 million out of her industry accounts and over to him. He explained that these wires were checks of her loyalty to him and her devotion to their adventure toward a brand new utopia (one where her dog would be immortal). As Sarma endured to give Anthony funds, she in the end ran out of money to pay the hire or the payroll at her eateries.

Then, in January 2015, Sarma’s staff staged a walkout of both Pure Food and One Lucky Duck after paychecks bounced. The businesses closed for a couple of months as Sarma sought out new buyers to get her financially back heading in the right direction. They opened again that April, but by way of July, Sarma and Anthony had long past on the run and another time stopped paying employees. The remaining team of workers staged some other walkout for lacking wages, which led to each institutions completely remaining their doors.

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office, Sarma and Anthony "defrauded 84 workers of up to $3,500 each." Sarma additionally owed more than $400,000 in again gross sales tax.

Sarma Melnagailis convinced Netflix to pay her former staff.

In May 2016, Sarma and Anthony were arrested at a lodge in Sevierville, Tennessee, after Anthony ordered a supply of Domino's Pizza the use of his actual title. A year later, she pled guilty to fees of prison tax fraud, stealing from buyers, and scheming to defraud, even though she most effective spent 4 months in prison.

Sarma stayed silent about her arrest for years until Netflix approached her for Bad Vegan. Sarma agreed to participate in the documentary beneath the condition that Netflix pay her former team of workers what she owed.

“Beyond getting former staff repaid, I didn't in a different way benefit from Bad Vegan,” Sarma declared on her blog. “Netflix and/or the manufacturers can confirm this. Anyone who’s been the topic of a credible documentary or who works within the trade could also verify the standard follow of not paying subjects.”

Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives is available to stream on Netflix.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pbXSramam6Ses7p6wqikaKhfnsBuu82eZKWtk6DGbrDUnKJmq6Seua15zqmcpw%3D%3D