Latvian American celebrity vegan betrayed by cheesy pizza

Take note – story published 7 years ago

A celebrity New York restaurateur is facing the prospect of a dull prison diet after being caught while on the run in the US.

The New York Post reported May 13 that Sarma Melngailis, 43, was on the lam in famous barbecue state Tennessee after arrest warrants were issued for her and husband Anthony Strangis.

The pair are wanted in connection with unpaid bills including thousands of dollars allegedly owed to employees at their upscale eatery Pure Food And Wine, which has been featured several times in Latvian media as a success story of the Latvian diaspora.

The restaurant cultivated a reputation as a place for biologically obsessed stars such as Woody Harrelson and Alec Baldwin to hang out and sip vegan treats such as wheat grass cocktails rather than indulge in traditional Latvian fare such as pigs' ears.

Melngailis has been a champion (or should that be champignon?) of the trendy raw food movement, producing books titled Living Raw Food and Raw Food Real World.

She also ran a raw vegan mail-order product line called One Lucky Duck.

The indictment against Melngailis claims she illegally transferred around $1.6 million from the business to her personal account.

However a year ago she went on the run. One of her last Facebook posts before making a break for the border has her enthusiastically recommending the delights of "All kale pumpkinseed and herb salad with pumpkinseed macadamia parmesan".

Ironically, it was her allegiance to Italian cheese that eventually ran her to ground.

Melngailis was effectively ratted out to cops by a decidedly non-vegan Dominos pizza which was delivered to her hideout, the paper reported.

"Sarma’s arrest — and subsequent ordering Dominos — calls into question whether she even had a fraction of the commitment the workers had,” said Ben Dictor, a lawyer for her ex-employees, who claim she owes them up to $3,500 each in wages.

Such behavior certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

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