Pure Food and Wine, a now-defunct vegan restaurant, hit the New York food scene at just the right time. It opened in 2004, when the idea of raw vegan cuisine still seemed novel enough to elicit curiosity. Tucked at the bottom of a building in the Gramercy neighborhood, a block east of Union Square, it became one of the city’s first fully raw eateries. From the onset, it generated buzz, catching the attention of food bloggers.
Behind the venue was co-founder and owner Sarma Melngailis. A native of Newton, Massachusetts with degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the prestigious Wharton School, she worked at a couple of investment firms before changing gears and enrolling in culinary school. Melngailis graduated from the International Culinary Center, then known as the French Culinary Institute, just a few years before opening Pure Food and Wine.
