After meeting her eventual husband Anthony Strangis, the business began to fall apart.
Heres everything to know about the bizarre tale andwhat Melngailis is doing now.
Who is Sarma Melngailis?
According to Paper Mag,Melngailis was once celebratedfor her business and cooking skills.
She then worked in various restaurants and wrote several cookbooks before being drawn to theraw food movementand vegan eating.
She and her boyfriend, chef Matthew Kenney, opened Pure Food and Wine in 2004.
How Did Sarma Melngailis & Anthony Strangis Meet?
After Kenney and Melngailis broke up, she kept Pure Food and Wine going.
Strangis claimed he could help Melngailis restaurant become independent from meddling investors, but the money never materialized.
They broke up after she terminated a pregnancy, but then got married in December 2012.
“He told me if I was his wife I’d be more protected,” she toldVanity Fair.
“It was vague.”
In all, Melngailis gave Strangis over $1.2 million.
“I could do all the world-changing things I’d been quietly dreaming about.
I could help whoever I want, and stay young forever doing it.”
Her attorneys later argued she wasthe victim of coercive control.
Pure Food and Wine closed in July 2015, and Melngailis and Strangis went on the run.
Does Sarma Melngailis Still Talk To Anthony Strangis?
While looking at shelter dogs in Brooklyn, she got attached to a pit bull.
So she took him home and named him Leon.
“She wasn’t someone who dated a lot of people,” Baldwin toldVanity Fair.
Today, Melngailis still has Leon, and her Instagram is mostly pictures of him and their adventures together.
According to a March 10 post,Leon is now 12 years old.
Sarma Melngailis Parents
According to a blog post,Melngailis dad isfrom Latvia.
He fled the country in 1944 with his family, and worked as a physicist at M.I.T.
in the 1970s and 80s.
Melngailis mom is Susan H. Jasse and she runs an orchard in New Hampshire.
She later launched a personal website,Sarma Raw, to share her story.
I hope to be able to turn things right side up again.
Where Is Sarma Melngailis Now?
Melngailis currently lives in Harlem with Leon.
But how in the world could that happen?
I have no clue.
