The Crazy Vegan Lady, her Immortal Dog, and Alien Husband

There’s no denying it. Vegans, well, they have a bad rap (veggie wrap?). The unfortunate reputation that these carrot chompers have gained can be blamed on health nuts and fitness freaks that, through various statements, posts, and overall demeanor, seem to believe that they’re better than everyone.

Sarma Melngailis, owner and co-founder of vegan eateries Pure Food and Wine and One Lucky Duck, was one of these vegans. Melngailis rose to fame after contacting one of her idols, plant-based American chef Matthew Kenney. The two quickly began a relationship (probably over their love of grass and… quinoa and… more grass). Anyway, it didn’t take long for them to introduce their child to the public- Pure Food and Wine, funded by restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow.

The vegan restaurant, located in New York City, served raw food to impressive clients such as Owen Wilson and Alec Baldwin, just to name a few big hotshots often seen at the establishment. Unfortunately, Melngailis and Kenney had a messy split, in which they both argued for ownership of the restaurant. Chodorow had to choose which one would get booted. Due to her careful nature with money (and Kenney’s carefree one), Chodorow ruled in Melngailis’s favor. Melngailis went into debt two million dollars and Kenney went home.

After her break with Kenney, she had a brief little stint with acclaimed actor Alec Baldwin as he was a regular customer. Although the two never officially got together, he did, in fact, meet his wife Hilaria Baldwin in the Pure Food and Wine dining room. (By the way, he has five kids all under the age of ten and he’s sixty-three. Just… how?)

At this time, Melngailis began an online friendship with Shane Fox, who coincidentally was buddy-buddy with Alec Baldwin on Twitter. Fox told Melngailis that he was a former Navy SEAL who had been injured in combat and was now working in Black-Ops. He encouraged her to get a dog and she would take his advice, rescuing a Pitbull affectionately known as Leon. After several months of chatting online, Melngailis and Fox met in person and soon became inseparable. Unfortunately, the man Melngailis fell in love with well… he was crazy.

Anthony Strangis, aka Shane Fox, was a convicted criminal and conman. To hide his past, Strangis made the transition to Fox. Using a fabricated backstory in which he works for the US Government, Strangis convinced Melngailis that he was working for an organization called “The Family.” The Family and Strangis were working towards a perfect Utopia, one in which himself, Melngailis, and beloved Leon would become immortal and live together forever. Strangis told Melngailis that all the weight he gained was a sort of “test” for Melngailis to overcome in order to prove her worthiness to go to the new world. Melngailis (like a real idiot, if I may add) believed every word. Eventually, Strangis would make demands that Melngailis hand over every penny her restaurants earned. They also married at Strangis’s urging which Melngailis found romantic. Strangis only wanted to marry her so that the money she gave to him wouldn’t be taxed.

From 2012-2014, Strangis was able to milk Melngailis out of $1.6 million. All of that money came from defrauding investors and withholding pay from employees. This caused the employees to walk out of the restaurant and force it close. So what did Strangis do with the money? He claimed that he needed the money as another test and that he did nothing with it. In reality, he was spending it on luxury items and casinos.

Pure Food and Wine employees headed to the police and Strangis and Melngailis were both charged with fraud for stealing about $2 million. Now on the lam, the criminal couple moved quickly from location to location. Coincidentally, there was always a nearby casino wherever they stayed. Strangis didn’t let Melngailis rest after her traumatic experience with him and his weird alien cult thing. He wanted her to talk to the banks and loan even more money from them so that he could fund his gambling addiction.

Eventually, the two hid out in Sevierville, Tennessee. Melngailis’s mental state was deteriorating without Leon and Strangis’s secrecy and control over her grew. Whenever Strangis allowed Melngailis to leave their small hotel room, he instructed her to use the name Emma Donovan. Donovan/Melngailis would frequent a nearby Chipotle and even became friendly with the staff, especially Dustin Hall. They would hang out and talk although Melngailis never revealed anything personal about herself. In fact, she protected Strangis’s identity by using another fake name when talking about him with Hall. Their Bonnie and Clyde routine didn’t last for much longer, however. Traced by a Domino’s pizza order, the two were caught by police at their hotel room.

A field day. That’s what the media had. A vegan health nut caught through a Domino’s order of pizza and chicken wings?! Who would’ve thought? Melngailis claims that the food was for her husband only, and that she was still a diehard vegan. Melngailis and Strangis were both sent to prison. However, Melngailis was able to get out after her parents paid her hefty bail of $300,000. Strangis’s bail, at $350,000, was left unpaid. Melngailis spent a few months at Rikers Island, a jail on an island in the East River. Strangis was also sent to Rikers and got out after a year with five years probation. The couple divorced in 2018.

Sarma Melngailis and her (sadly) not immortal dog Leon live in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood. Melngailis had been paid for her participation in the Netflix documentary and she used the money to pay Pure Food and Wine’s former employees their few years past due paychecks. She still hopes to open up her restaurant. (Fat chance lady.) Her alien ex-husband Strangis is a free man now albeit on probation. Him and his ex-wife are no longer in contact.

At the end of the day, it’s hard to fathom that a smart businesswoman would fall to the claims of some sleazy alien lord guy that claimed to have the power of instilling immortality upon anyone. Crazy. However, it does make for some awesome entertainment. Her entire ordeal is the prime example of ‘point and laugh!’ Maybe, just maybe, Sarma should’ve asked Alec out while she still had the chance.