Everything To Know About Pure Food And Wine

As someone who frequented the hotspot while it was still open, I’ve always been interested in the restaurant’s story — even before the documentary came about.

So I’m writing this post as BuzzFeed.com’s resident longtime vegan, and for all of my friends who have been texting me about Bad Vegan since it debuted on Netflix. Here’s everything I remember…

It was a joint venture between Chef Matthew Kenney and Sarma Melngailis, who were in a relationship at the time. 

At the time of Pure’s opening, Matthew was a well-known chef in the NYC dining scene, having opened his namesake restaurant Matthew’s in the Upper East Side in 1993. He had also worked with Jeffrey Chodorow on previous ventures  — which is how he got involved in the business from the beginning. 

The pair got into raw veganism together in the late 2000s, meeting lots of people through Lower East Side juice bar, Organic Avenue, and the events and dinners they often held. As they became raw vegans themselves, they felt passionate about bringing their new diet to the masses through a new venture — a restaurant. 

Speaking about advantages they had while looking for spaces for their new restaurant, Matthew wrote in his book Cooking Raw, “raw cooking did not require the traditional gas or heat, so fire ventilation would not be required — this would save us a lot of money and also allow us to potentially build in spaces that most restaurants could not.”

I guess it kind of just shows the vibe of things at the time.

However, Matthew would not stay at Pure for long, and he’d write about this party as it related to his eventual romantic break.

Matthew wrote about his break-up with Sarma as such: “While we may have been glowing in our business life, we weren’t as a couple. At that point I was quite familiar — and happy — with sleeping on the couch. Neither of us would admit that although we produced great work together, that was where the connection ultimately began and ended. Our book came out in June and was launched with a huge garden party: paparazzi, celebrities, journalists. By the time our book was released with our picture on the cover — drinking champagne and sharing the glow together — we were not together at all. Things were clearly not going to work out. Sarma and I were on completely different planets.”

But don’t worry too much about him! If you don’t already know, Matthew is one of the leading names in all of plant-based eating these days. He’s published over twelve cookbooks, runs the cooking school Future Food Institute, and runs over fifty (!) vegan restaurants all over the world. (Some of my favorites have to be Double Zero in NYC, Plant Food + Wine in Los Angeles, and Plant City in Providence, Rhode Island!)

And in case you were wondering, the food was actually REALLY GOOD! I know I’m a vegan myself, but I’m not a practicing raw vegan, so it’s not my everyday cuisine. I should also note that I’ve brought many non-vegans here over the years and they all enjoyed it. 

It was pricey, yes, but delicious. I always saw it as a “special occasion” type of place to go!

It was the “must order” item on the menu — and people definitely did. It may look just like a bunch of raw veggies to you, but the way in which it was created (layers of thinly sliced zucchini and tomatoes criss-crossed with sun-dried tomatoes and brazil nut puree) is damn near art. Plus, the inclusion of nuts allowed the meal to actually fill you up after eating it.

I’ve tried it and liked it, but I knew it was *actually* good when my carnivore father was absolutely wowed by it — and talked about for years after.

I never ordered it, but I just can’t imagine it was an enjoyable martini. 

Sarma’s bubbly personality would often greet you at the door. I saw her seated at the bar with her laptop doing work just like in this still from Netflix, too. 

I know I wasn’t there every day, obviously, but she was a notable presence at the place — something that clearly stopped once she began her new relationship.