Bad Vegan star and disgraced celebrity chef Sarma Melngailis has revealed that her beloved dog Leon has passed away, almost a decade after her restaurant empire went down in flames when she embarked on a bizarre quest to give him eternal life.
Sarma, 51, shared the heartbreaking news via Instagram on Saturday, revealing that the Pitbull had died in the early morning hours of July 4.
“It’s over. Time for this terrible post about the loss of my best friend,” she wrote alongside a series of pictures of the dog. “He left his glorious furry crate at 3am on the 4th of July.”
Sarma wrote that he had not been “doing well” in the days leading up to his passing, but had “cheered up” after she cooked him some bison.
“I didn’t think his time would come so soon, until around midnight when I realized it might be his time,” he continued.
Bad Vegan star Sarma Melngailis has revealed that her beloved dog Leon has passed away, almost a decade after she set out on a strange quest to give him eternal life.
Sarma, 51, shared the heartbreaking news via Instagram on Saturday, revealing that the Pitbull had died in the early morning hours of July 4.
“It’s heartbreaking, and yet also painfully beautiful, like a cycle of life. But above all, painful.
‘I still don’t have the words to describe all this… I have to get used to my new identity. I haven’t wanted to leave my apartment because somehow it makes everything more real. I’m a person, just me… my puppy is gone.
“Leon, I have no words to express how much I love you. It was an honor for me to be your mom.”
Sarma is best known for launching the extremely popular New York City-based raw vegan food restaurant, Pure Food and Wine, in 2004.
But she became embroiled in controversy in 2016, when the restaurant owner was arrested for fraud along with her then-husband Anthony Strangis.
And their cub Leon was at the centre of controversy: Sarma claimed during the trial that she was drawn to Anthony after he told her he could make Leon live forever.
In a rehearsal On his blog, Sarma shared more about the Pitbull’s final hours, explaining that he had begun “vomiting a lot” in recent weeks.
“He had been throwing up a lot, but I had generally learned that if I gave him water in small amounts and he ate in small amounts, he would be fine and would go many days without throwing up. But yesterday he threw up,” she wrote of his final day.
Sarma is best known for launching the extremely popular New York City-based raw vegan food restaurant Pure Food and Wine (seen) in 2004.
But she became embroiled in controversy in 2016, when the restaurant owner (left) was arrested for fraud along with her then-husband Anthony Strangis (right).
And her pup Leon was at the centre of controversy, as she claimed during the trial that she was drawn to Anthony after he told her he could make Leon live forever.
She claimed that Anthony convinced her to give him the restaurant’s profits so that the dog could become immortal.
‘He didn’t seem to be in any major pain, but who knows. He seemed to be uncomfortable all day, he didn’t want to go out for his midday walk and he lay down in the hall.
‘Then he perked up and wagged his tail when the neighbour’s puppy walked by. But when he wouldn’t go out on his last night’s trip either, things got more serious.
Overall, it seemed like a rough day for him, but I still thought he would be okay. He was more distracted than usual, more disoriented.
‘At bedtime he finally seemed comfortable and settled, but shortly after I went to bed I heard him vomit again, after he had already done so before bed.
“He seemed more distressed than usual. After cleaning myself up, I settled in beside him, half on his bed, as close as I could.
‘His head rested on a pillow but he did not close his eyes and stared fixedly at the wall.’
In an essay posted on her blog, Sarma spoke about the puppy’s final hours, explaining that he had no energy to go for a walk. He was seen hours before his death.
She said she lay with him until she finally fell asleep, but “suddenly woke up” when he began “gasping for air.”
She said that while the pain is “immense,” she feels “honored to endure it for the privilege of having been his human.”
Sarma explained that Leon looked at her “in a way he never had before,” as if he was “amazed by something.”
“The way he looked at me… it wasn’t the typical calm, serene look of a dog, nor the pleading look he gets when there’s food nearby, nor any look I’d ever seen from him (or anyone) before,” she continued. “It was like he was urgently communicating with my soul, or something.”
She said she lay with him until she finally fell asleep, but “suddenly woke up” when he began “gasping for air.”
“I knew I was witnessing his death. I wasn’t really in pain, but more of a desperate sort of breathing… I kept urgently repeating my ‘I love you’s’ between sobs and he finally arched his head back and took one last sigh and then relaxed and I knew he was gone,” she shared.
She said that although the pain is “immense,” she feels “honored to bear it for the privilege of having been his human being.”
“I am eternally grateful to have been with him, awake and at his side to witness and live the experience with him,” she added.
‘There was no euthanasia, this happened naturally in the middle of the night, but I had the feeling it was going to happen soon and it did, quickly, sooner than I thought.’
Sarma was dubbed the “Queen of Vegan Cuisine” after launching the upscale vegan restaurant Pure Food & Wine in 2004, and it quickly became a celebrity hangout.
Sarma’s restaurant was beloved by stars such as Chelsea Clinton, Tom Brady, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson. She has been seen with Woody and Jason Lewis.
She pleaded guilty to several fraud charges and was sentenced to four months in prison. She is seen during the trial
He was beloved by stars including Chelsea Clinton, Tom Brady, Alec and Hilaria Baldwin, Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson, but in 2015, the restaurant guru’s empire collapsed when he suddenly disappeared with $2 million, leaving staff without pay and investors out of pocket.
The restaurant closed in July of that year and she and her then-husband, Anthony, 44, were subsequently arrested.
She pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud and was sentenced to four months in prison.
As for Anthony, whom she divorced in 2018, he served a year in prison and was released in 2017.
Sarma claimed during the trial that Anthony tricked her into channeling funds from her restaurant to him by promising to make her beloved dog immortal.
She said he told her that Leon had been his dog in a previous life and that the three of them had been living together for a thousand years.
Her story was retold in the 2022 Netflix docuseries Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.
(tags to translate)dailymail