A new chef is bringing some local spice to the menu
Chef Stephen Fressell joined head chef and owner Tom Saab of Bistro 218, a downtown Birmingham French cuisine restaurant with an American flavor, to marry Alabama’s locally gown food with Fressell’s international culinary skill.
Fressell graduated from New York’s The French Culinary Institute and has trained with world-renowned chefs in New York and Atlanta. Later, as an executive chef, he served the Italian Ambassador to the UN.
Fressell now hosts the dinner series Chef in the Garden at Bistro 218, partnering with Heron Hollow Farms, and emphasizing his “table-to-farmer” ideal. Different from the farm-to-fork experience, “table-to-farmer” prioritizes connecting the patrons to the actual farm where the food originated.
“I can taste a vegetable and know what farm it’s from; I can smell the grass of each farmland when I eat their particular produce,” said Fressell. “Bistro 218 is committed to bridging the gap between consumers and their food, really driving home that here in Alabama, we have direct access to some of the richest crops and can think outside of the box when utilizing local produce in each and every one of our dishes.”
Fressell has recently been featured in Zagat, an online dining and travel guide, for his Birmingham dinner series. For more information, visit: bristro218.com.
Birmingham grocer admits to food stamp and tax fraud
The United States Attorney’s Office in Birmingham announced this week that Sufyan Hazem Saleh, owner of the City Supermarket on Southside, has pleaded guilty to fraud cases totaling more than $1.6 million. The cases involved one count each of tax fraud and food stamp fraud.
Saleh, 33, agreed before a federal judge to pay restitution of $498,470 to the Internal Revenue Service and $1,125,772 to the United States Department of Agriculture, the agency which administers the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP food stamp program. Saleh is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 10.
According to U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance’s office, Saleh’s crime involved the now-closed City Supermarket at 1531 13th Place South. The store was authorized by USDA to accept food stamp benefits paid by SNAP recipients to the store through a debit card which is funded by the government. Saleh pleaded guilty to redeeming electronic benefit transfer (EBT) SNAP benefits for cash, which is against federal law, between January 2010 and December 2011. Federal authorities said that City Supermarket redeemed about $1.9 million in SNAP benefits during that period, but more than $1.1 million of that was fraudulent. The tax charge results from Saleh underreporting his income for 2009 and 2010.
The maximum penalty for the tax fraud is three years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for food stamp fraud is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Saleh was among several people arrested last week on state charges of food stamp fraud at local convenience stores. Those charges are unrelated to the federal charges he has pleaded guilty to.
Children’s ranked among the best in the U.S.
U.S. News & World Report this year ranked Children’s of Alabama among the best hospitals for kids in the country for the sixth year in a row, making it the only pediatric facility in the state to have been ranked consecutively during the period.
According to a release from Children’s, seven of the hospital’s pediatric specialties — cardiology/heart surgery, diabetes/endocrinology, nephrology, neurology/neurosurgery, neonatology, urology and pulmonology — are among the top 50 in the country, according to the magazine’s latest “Best Children’s Hospital” rankings.
“Without question we provide exceptional care, service and comfort to the patients who are entrusted to us,” said Children’s CEO and president Mike Warren. Children’s is the primary site for pediatric clinical and educational programs for the University of Alabama School of Medicine.
Non-profits to benefit from Red, White, and Brews fundraiser
The Red, White, and Brews: Independence for Life fundraiser June 27 will provide more than an opportunity for patriotic beer and food truck sampling. Organizers said that the event in Homewood will give three local nonprofit groups a chance to show off what they do for people with developmental health issues in a fun atmosphere.
Proceeds from the event will benefit The Bell Center for Early Intervention Programs, Mitchell’s Place and Triumph Services, all of which “provide services to individuals at risk for developmental delays and their families” according to a news release. The event will allow students who have benefited from the organizations to tell their stories.
The event will take place outside Rosewood Hall in Homewood from 5–8 p.m. Admission is $15 and includes one free sample from each Alabama brewery present plus a signature event cup. There will also be live music. Tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance here.
Learn more about The Bell Center for Early Intervention Services at thebellcenter.org; Mitchell’s Place at mitchells-place.com; and Triumph Services at triumphservices.org.
Alabama Supreme Court gives dentists something to smile about
Earlier this week, the Alabama Supreme Court upheld a 2011 law prohibiting anyone other than licensed dentists from performing teeth whitening services. As noted in Weld last year, entrepreneurs Joyce Wilson, of Guntersville, and Keith Westphal, of North Carolina, had gone to court over an amendment to the state code making it illegal for anyone other than a licensed dentist to charge for teeth whitening services.
They had sued the Alabama’s Board of Dental Examiners, arguing that the 2011 amendment making teeth whitening a part of dental practice actually protects dentist profits and not public health. Wilson, who had started a teeth-whitening business in 2006, had to shut it down after a cease and desist order from the state. Westphal, who wanted to move his business into Alabama, has had to reverse course, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling earlier this year holding that the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners was violating federal antitrust laws when it shut down such businesses. In North Carolina, however, state law does not specify that teeth whitening is an act only to be performed by a dentist.
Alabama Board of Dental Examiners Executive Director Susan Wilhelm argued at the time that the law protects the safety of the public. “What the board’s responsibility is, is to make sure that everyone who is practicing dentistry in the state of Alabama has been appropriately educated and trained to do that and that they are safe practitioners.”
In its opinion the Alabama Supreme Court ruled that “In this case, there can be no dispute that the practice of dentistry, generally speaking, relates to the public health and is, therefore, a legitimate subject of the State’s police power. Moreover, teeth whitening is unquestionably a dental treatment. … Teeth whitening is a form of dental treatment that requires the application of a chemical bleaching agent directly to the customer’s teeth. The evidence in the record indicates that the procedure is relatively safe but that it is not without potential adverse effects.”
After listing a number of adverse effects, the Supreme Court wrote, “These concerns and others do not appear trivial,” and despite the fact that dentists charge more than teeth-whitening services, the law requiring “that teeth-whitening services be performed by licensed dentists does not violate the due process protections of the Alabama Constitution.”