Whilst gazing Unhealthy Vegan, the four-episode Netflix documentary collection that chronicles the downfall of New York Town uncooked vegan eating place Natural Meals and Wine, I discovered myself frequently questioning when, precisely, the true loopy shit was once going to start out. (Caution: spoilers forward.)
For individuals who haven’t but watched, right here’s a recap of the pertinent main points: the documentary facilities across the scandal involving Natural Meals and Wine house owners Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis, either one of whom had been in the long run arrested on a litany of fees together with grand larceny, tax fraud, defrauding traders, and violations of of work legislation. The duo went at the run, and had been stuck via the feds in a flip of destiny that the web discovered hilarious once they ordered a (most definitely no longer vegan) Domino’s pizza to their Tennessee lodge room.
It’s, to make certain, a wild story, however on this planet of eating places, wild stories aren’t uncommon. Actually, there’s a entire class of news associated with criminality within the eating place international, starting from wine-drenched Ponzi schemes to a cafe fraudulently serving Popeyes rooster to alleged pistol-whippings. It’s no longer even utterly extraordinary for shady eating place house owners to head at the lam once they’ve been accused of crimes, both — in 2019, Attila Gyulai, the landlord of Chicago Vietnamese eating place Embaya, was once arrested in Spain after 10 months of hiding from the government following his indictment on fraud fees a 12 months prior.
Strangis isn’t interviewed within the documentary, however Melngailis spoke widely about their courting, alleging that Strangis engaged in “coercive keep an eye on” of each her and her funds via making her consider all kinds of lies, together with the perception that he had the facility to make each Melngalis and her loved canine Leon reside ceaselessly. In the end, each Melngailis and Strangis each ended up doing prison time, and Natural Meals and Wine closed its doorways. Leon, via the way in which, continues to be alive.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23342377/BadVegan_Sarma_dog.png)
Netflix
And likely, that sounds completely bananas. However is it actually extra bonkers than the fellow who lied about being a star chef with a Meals Community display within the works to win over ladies and traders, simplest to finally end up getting arrested for twine fraud? Everybody loves a excellent mob tale, and the eating place trade is house to quite a lot of the ones, together with the 2003 homicide of mobster Albert Circelli, who was once killed inside of unique NYC Italian eating place Rao’s in 2003 following a controversy with a man named Louis “Louie Lump Lump” Barone over a track at the jukebox. A decade ahead of that, the eating place burned to the bottom in a hearth that was once “intentionally set.”
As a substitute of being attentive to Melngailis describe how she willingly passed over tens of 1000’s of greenbacks, with out query, to a dude simply because he informed her he was once wealthy, I’d a lot desire to peer a deep-dive into the Pizzagate conspiracy, which ended in a real taking pictures at a cafe, and even finding out extra about the name of the game marijuana farm that grew beneath a Brooklyn maraschino cherry manufacturing facility.
Amongst her many crimes, Melngailis was once additionally accused via her workers of stealing wages, and that’s no longer precisely unusual within the eating place trade, both. Even massive chains like McDonald’s have paid out tens of millions to settle complaints that alleged salary robbery. The similar is correct on this planet of good eating, evidenced via vaunted eateries like Thomas Keller’s Consistent with Se and acclaimed Lummi Island spot the Willows Inn, the latter of which paid $600,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit filed via its workers alleging salary robbery.
With all of that during thoughts, the shenanigans at Natural Meals and Wine are somewhat yawn-inducing, particularly when stretched throughout 4 meandering episodes. On the finish, audience are left questioning who was once actually getting scammed right here — was once it Sarma, who idea she had her hooks in a wealthy investor who may just save her suffering eating place, or Anthony, an enthralling con guy intent on using Sarma’s coattails proper to the highest? Who can say? However something’s evidently: There are undoubtedly tales similarly — and extra — deserving of the Netflix documentary remedy than the story of Natural Meals and Wine.
