Bad Vegan on Netflix: After the Tinder Cheat, You’ll Have Hallucinations With This New Documentary

It all starts with arguing and threatening on the phone between a woman and a man. Her name is Sarma Melgailis, her name is Shane Fox. And the former couple is the subject of a compelling documentary series on Netflix called the Bad Vegan: Scam menu, which chronicles the incredible true story of this restaurateur specializing in vegan cuisine and the influences made on him by his former companion.

After The Scammer of Tinder, which hit the headlines and was a huge success, today the platform released a shocking new documentary on love history and fraud, directed and produced by Chris Smith, with whom we already had Jimmy and Andy, Tiger King: Into. Wild and FYRE: The greatest festival that has ever happened.

Who is Sarma Melgailis?

Originally from Massachusetts, Sarma Melgailis pursued a career in finance in the 1990s, before changing the course of her culinary passion, which she followed from her mother, a professional chef. He graduated from the French Culinary Institute in 1999. Sarma passed the ranks and met chef, author and speaker Matthew Ken, with whom she would maintain a relationship, and restorer Jeffrey Chodorov.

Together in 2004 they opened the restaurant “Pure Food and Wine”, which specializes in vegan food. The luxury establishment is becoming very popular in New York, so much so that many celebrities are fighting for the table there. Twice listed as one of New York Magazine’s Top 100 Restaurants, the restaurant is becoming a real business, expanding from “One Lucky Duck” to a retail store.

Thanks to this avant-garde company, Sarma has become the queen of vegan cuisine. But his relationship with Matthew Kelly does not go far, it is the fault of the chef’s harmful behavior that has weakened the business woman. Luckily for her, the restaurant is up and running and Sarma has an excellent relationship with her staff who say they worked in a great environment until everything changed when Sarma met Shane Fox.

The Power of Shane Fox aka Anthony Strangis

Alec Baldwin’s “friend”, who often visited Sarma’s restaurant, where he also met his future wife, Shane Fox, soon won the young woman’s heart on Twitter in real life, but also the heart of his dog Leon, whom he so cares for. The chin of his eye. This seemingly idyllic romantic relationship raised many questions in people close to Sarma who were worried about a young woman.

And they were right. Because Shane Fox is actually called Anthony Strangis and he has created a pretty crazy life, messing with the past of the Army, a secret agent service linked to the CIA and mysterious enemies who want to attack him. (It reminds us of a certain Simon Leviev, known as The Tinder Scammer).

Worse, Shane / Anthony composed the entire discourse about the afterlife, the pursuit of demons, the mystical and spiritual beliefs, and the possibility of immortality that he could provide for Sarma and his Pitbull Leon. Gradually, Shane / Anthony strengthens Sarma and often goes on missions in which he demands a lot of money from Sarma, although he is already in debt because of a restaurant he tries to manage alone, but with financial help. Jeffrey Chodorou remained a significant supporter.

From 2012 to 2014, Sarma sent $ 1.7 million to Shane / Anthony, while the latter was playing in a casino, living a dream life in a star hotel, and was on parole after stealing an expensive car. Meanwhile, Sarma and Shane / Anthony got married and the swindler controlled Sarma’s personal belongings, accounts and passwords.

Despite all this, Sarma and Shane / Anthony continued to travel to different countries with the money earned in casinos. Sarma was leaving the restaurant more and more and things were getting worse until the staff closed the establishment in 2015 due to unpaid salaries during his absence in 2015. The restaurant reopened briefly in April 2015 but closed permanently in July 2015, following a staff meeting. In front of the institution.

Arrest the pizza

After squandering the money of “Clean Food and Wine”, Sarma and her companion run away and are actively wanted for robbery, fraud and violation of labor laws and are considered fugitives. In May 2016, the couple was finally arrested in Tennessee after ordering pizza from Domino’s Pizza while staying in separate hotel rooms.

Sarma and her attorneys planned a defense based on Shane / Anthony’s coercive control, and the young woman pleaded guilty next year to stealing more than $ 200,000 from an investor and evading taxes. She received a full four months in prison and filed for divorce in 2018. Shane / Anthony was sentenced to five years in prison.

During the four episodes of Bad Vegan: Scam on the Menu, with full archival footage, camera footage from Sarma, her sister, her father, co-workers, investors, partners, Anthony’s ex-wife, journalist Allen Salkin from Vanity. The Telephone Fair, Reconstructions and Records, is a documentary series, so it recalls this hallucinatory and incredible case of several fraudsters and the financial and social scandal that hit the United States.