18 minute read
Points South
CITY BEAT BUSINESS SIPS & BITES
World chef brings unique Indian concept to Five Points
By INGRID SCHNADER
After opening successful restaurants across the world, chef Pritam Zarapkar has settled down in Birmingham to introduce a brand new Indian restaurant concept.
In May, Zarapkar and his team of local investors purchased Bay Leaf Authentic Indian Cuisine, which is a restaurant that opened a U.S. 280 location in 2014 and opened a Five Points South location in 2019. The team plans to build on the restaurant brand’s success and reputation but will give the brand a modern twist, Zarapkar said.
“Birmingham currently lacks modern Indian dishes, and we hope to fill this void with the new menu offerings at both Bay Leaf locations,” he said. “There isn’t anything like this in the state, and we believe Birmingham is ready for it.”
The rebranded restaurant received a new name, Bay Leaf Modern Indian Cuisine & Bar. The menu also received a makeover.
One tasty menu option is the Desi Burger and Fries, which is an Indian take on an American burger. Zarapkar uses lamb and vegetables to create a burger patty, and then he uses Indian naan bread for the bun.
“You have to taste it to believe it,” said a representative of Bay Leaf. “It’s amazing.”
The Masala Quesadilla is another popular dish on the new menu, giving an Indian twist to a Mexican staple. Using Indian spices, Zarapkar recreates the dish, and customers can choose between veggie, chicken or lamb quesadillas.
The appetizers menu also includes fun Indian creations. The Crab Lollypops are snow crab claw clusters that are battered, flash-fried and served with a special sauce.
“Most of the Indian restaurants, first of all, serve any crab,” the representative said. “He uses Alaskan crabs to create lollipops, basically, which is dipped in a strawberry sauce. And it’s amazing.”
The rebranded restaurant has a casual yet upscale atmosphere, the representative said. Although the greater Birmingham area is already home to some traditional Indian restaurants, the representative said he doesn’t know of any with this modern twist on Indian cuisine.
“The concept, modern Indian cuisine, doesn’t exist in Alabama,” the representative said. “We’ve traveled all over the world and all over the U.S., and Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and Nashville have this modern Indian cuisine concept. … But we’ve never had a culinary expert in Birmingham who was able to do it.”
Above: The interior of Bay Leaf Modern Indian Cuisine & Bar, which has one restaurant that opened in 2014 along U.S. 280 and another that opened in 2019 in Five Points South. Below: The restaurant touts its modern twist on Indian cuisine. Photos courtesy of Bay Leaf Modern Indian Cuisine & Bar.
The chef received his education from Switzerland and is an expert in Indian, French and American cuisines. With over 15 years of experience as an executive chef, he has launched more than 12 restaurants across Europe and the United States.
He came to the area in January with hopes to start a white tablecloth, international restaurant concept called The Spice Library. But because of the outbreak of
COVID-19 across the globe, Zarapkar and his team have had to delay the concept, and the team began working on the Bay Leaf concept instead.
Some of the Bay Leaf team members are physicians and helped come up with a coronavirus safety plan, ensuring the dining room is safe for customers.
There is an in-house sanitation protocol that takes place three times a day. Employees are provided with personal protective equipment and wear it at all times. Reservations are highly encouraged.
One of Bay Leaf’s novel ideas is the use of QR code menus. Instead of placing a menu at every seat, the customers can use their mobile phones to scan a QR code, which then opens up the online restaurant menu. This eliminates the possibility of cross-contamination from sharing reusable menus. If the customer prefers a physical menu, there will also be disposable paper menus available.
Kiran Chavan, a former Bay Leaf owner, is staying on board as the general manager to operate both locations and has over 15 years of experience in running restaurants.
“This is an exciting transition for Bay Leaf,” Chavan said, “and we look forward to serving our past customers and attracting new ones with our improved food offerings, drinks, service and brand.”
The Five Points location opened its dine in seating early July, but the 280 location will continue operating as take-out only until later in the summer while the team continues to renovate the dining room.
For more information, visit bayleafbham.com.
GENE STANCUT, MD
BOARD-CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGIST, MOHS MICROGRAPHIC SURGEON
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ASK THE FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS - ROTH IRA CONVERSIONS IN PANDEMIC TIMES WHAT IS A ROTH IRA? of tax planning in retirement is that you will only be taxed on the income that you A Roth IRA is a type of savings account that lets an investor invest money for use. You essentially have control over your taxes. But, the whole thought pattern retirement without paying taxes on the money after funding the account. Invesof “I will only spend a small percentage of what I earned when I was working” has tors fund their Roth IRAs with after-tax pay, meaning that they pay taxes on the been false in many, many circumstances. Combine this with the growing national money prior to putting it into the Roth IRA. There is no tax on a Roth IRA as the debt and there are many professionals in this country that believe that tax rates money in the IRA grows, and, when the investor reaches retirement assuming that must increase in the future. In fact, individual tax brackets are scheduled to revert they have had a funded Roth IRA account for at least five years, there is also no back to the levels that they were at before the Trump Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in tax on the IRA when funds are withdrawn. 2026. So, essentially, by nothing legislatively changing, tax brackets are already scheduled to increase.
WHAT IS A ROTH IRA CONVERSION?
A Roth IRA Conversion is a reportable movement of assets from a Traditional, WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT IN 2020, THE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC? SEP, or SIMPLE IRA to a Roth IRA, which is a taxable event. This can be Assuming our current circumstances continue through the majority of this year, advantageous for individuals with large Traditional IRA accounts who expect many taxpayers will see two events that are conducive to a Roth IRA Conversion: their future tax rates to stay at the same level or grow at the time they plan to 1) Lower taxable income and 2) Lower balances in tax qualified accounts like start withdrawing from their tax-advantaged account. The owners of Traditional IRAs and 401(k)s. We would enjoy discussing with you why those situations are IRAs will be forced to withdraw funds when their Required Minimum important when assessing a Roth IRA Conversion. Please call or email and we can Distributions (RMDs) start. For those that have not started RMDs yet, their start help determine if a conversion is advisable or not. date will be the year that they turn 72 years old.
I THOUGHT THERE WERE LARGE RESTRICTIONS ON THE ABILITY TO FUND A ROTH IRA AND THE AMOUNT THAT YOU COULD PUT IN. IS THIS TRUE?
Yes, there are limitations on your ability to contribute to a Roth IRA that depend upon your reportable income and your access to an employer sponsored retirement plan. And, yes, you can only fund a Roth IRA with $6,000 in 2020 ($7,000 if you are 50 or older). But, one of the enticing attributes about a Roth Conversion is that you would have the ability to convert your entire balance. In real practice, we would almost certainly suggest a better strategy consisting of converting a large percentage of your balance over a period of several years. WHY WOULD I BELIEVE THAT MY TAX RATES WOULD INCREASE IN RETIREMENT WHEN I WILL NOT HAVE EARNED INCOME AT THAT TIME? This is one of the great misnomers in financial planning. One of the advantages Birmingham Office (205) 968-3800 One Perimeter Park South Suite 318N Huntsville Office (256) 880-0659 600 Boulevard South Suite 302 info@allianceplanning.net Investment advisory services offered through AE Wealth Management, LLC (AEWM). AEWM and Alliance Wealth Management Group are not affiliated companies. Investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. No investment strategy can protect against loss in a period of declining values. Our firm is not affiliated with the US government or any governmental agency. A Roth Conversion is a taxable event and may have several tax related consequences. Our firm does not provide and no statement contained in the guide shall constitute tax or legal advice. All individuals are encouraged to seek the guidance of a qualified tax professional regarding their personal situation. 662753 - 7/20
NECK OF THE WOODS DISCOVER
COVER: UAB officials, Dr. Michael Saag implore public not to let up on coronavirus precautions
Above: UAB medical professionals — gowned, gloved, and shielded in personal protective equipment (PPE) — treat a COVID-19 patient in the COVID-19 ICU at UAB Hospital in April. Top: Dr. Nitin Arora holds a cellphone while taking a photograph of Dr. Albert Pierce II as he is being fitted with a respirator that was adapted to include a medical-grade filter during a demonstration testing the fit of PPE masks at the UAB Hospital COVID-19 Command Center in the North Pavilion in April. Photos courtesy of UAB Media Relations.
By INGRID SCHNADER
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge through Alabama and specifically Jefferson County, Dr. Michael Saag in the division of infectious diseases at UAB said he can’t help but feel tired.
But just because he and other doctors are tired doesn’t mean they can give up, he said.
“We’re in a war,” he said. “Just because I’m tired or because there’s a bad day here and there doesn’t mean I can quit.”
He compared it to being a World War II soldier in the trenches somewhere in France.
“This is a serious battle,” he said. “I’m not going to sit there and say, ‘Well gosh, I need to go play a round of golf.’”
Even before the coronavirus hit Birmingham, Saag focused on efforts to end epidemics. He worked at the Center for AIDS Research at UAB searching for a way to put an end to the HIV epidemic. “I’ve been involved in the AIDS epidemic almost since its beginning,” he said. “I’ve seen how all of us pulling together Saag and using science in the best way possible has made a huge difference. It took a long time, but we’re light-years better than we were in the 1980s.”
When his efforts in the division of infectious diseases shifted to fighting coronavirus, he said he took lessons learned from the AIDS epidemic and applied them to the coronavirus pandemic.
“That’s what I’m here to do,” he said. “That’s my mission.”
He doesn’t just aid research efforts though — he actively participates. When
“As a scientist and a clinician, I have volunteered to do things that I feel will help. But what I ask in return is for all of us to do our part. DR. MICHAEL SAAG, Saag visited his son in New York in March, they made it a priority to wipe down surfaces. But this was before the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ” UAB DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES recommended wearing masks to contain the spread of the virus, and Saag and his son realized they were sick with coronavirus after the trip was over.
From the beginning, even while still sick, Saag began donating his plasma to research.
“On day two of illness, I volunteered and said, ‘Here, draw blood from me and store it,’” he said. “And we’ve been drawing that blood every four weeks or so to detect antibodies and see how my cells perform.”
In mid-May, he did plasmapheresis, where he donated about 500 milliliters of plasma and about 8 billion cells that doctors can use to further research the coronavirus.
“These are extraordinary times, and I think we should all be doing our part,” he said. “As a scientist and a clinician, I have volunteered to do things that I feel will help. But what I ask in return is for all of us to do our part.”
Saag also attends an outpatient COVID19 clinic about two-and-a-half days a week. The patients there are sick, but not sick enough to need to be in the hospital. It’s a place that these patients can safely be evaluated without exposing their primary care doctors.
“If they have been diagnosed with COVID, or if they have very suggestive symptoms, we’d prefer for them to come see us in this very secure location where we have all the precautions in place, can see them in a controlled way, and hopefully give them whatever interventions we can to help them weather the storm like I did and not have to go to the hospital.”
As if all of this life-saving work wasn’t enough for Saag, he and the dean of the UAB School of Medicine, Dr. Selwyn Vickers, have implemented a statewide testing initiative to test every college student in the state — public and private — for coronavirus before they return to class.
FACES
Above: Two medical professional wearing PPE face masks, gloves, gowns and shoe covers work in the PPE mask reprocessing dirty room in the West Pavilion of UAB Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic in April. Below: Tim Wick with UAB Engineering puts together a prototype face shield. Photos courtesy of UAB Media Relations.
This massive testing won’t cost college students a penny, though. Saag said the funding will come from the CARES Act, the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus bill passed by Congress in March. Most colleges will require the testing be done for
the student to regain entry onto campus.
“A dormitory is such an easy place for the transmission of a virus to happen,” Saag said. “So by knowing that the students walking into the dorms, residence halls and fraternity and sorority houses have tested negative at one moment in time, then we have a better chance of keeping the campus relatively safe at a baseline.”
Cases will still be inevitable as students return to campus, he said, but as new cases are identified, contract tracing and quarantine measures can be implemented. When Iron City Ink spoke to Saag in mid-July, he said he was expecting student testing to begin before August.
Dr. Jeanne Mazzarro, who directs the infectious diseases department at UAB, said the safety of back-to-school plans for elementary-aged children depends on the school. How much space does each classroom have? How many students will be in each room? Will they be able to social distance? These are the questions each school should consider, she said.
“I hate the thought of kids not going back to school,” Mazzarro said. “I feel like for them, developmentally, this is going to be a very challenging year. Parents are already going crazy — they can’t get to work, they’re totally stressed out. It’s just bad all around.
“So I’m not one of these people who thinks everything needs to stop until we get this under control. I think we need to think differently.”
Similar to Saag, Mazzarro admits she’s tired.
NECK OF THE WOODS DISCOVER
A health care worker pumps hand sanitizer into the hands of a coworker July 2 as she takes necessary steps to take off PPE at the UAB COVID-19 testing site on 22nd Street South. Photo by Erin Nelson.
“It’s exhausting on many levels — and I’m not even in the intensive care unit taking care of people,” she said. “I’m taking care of my faculty and staff. … It keeps me up at night worrying about how they’re doing and how we’re going to keep it together for them.”
She is also fatigued from saying the same things over and over again, she said.
“This is not rocket science,” she said. “We should be able to do what so many other countries have done well. To have knowledgeable, evidence-based people who want only the best things for our communities to be disbelieved and sometimes marginalized is really demoralizing.”
Everyone has a role to play, which should be people’s number one takeaway, Mazzarro said.
“Even if you think you are not at risk for infection, remember that not everyone is as fortunate as you,” she said. “We need everyone to pull together and understand that in order to get ahead of this thing.
“The virus is the most apolitical thing you will ever encounter. It loves it when we don’t agree. It loves it when there’s chaos. It will take advantage of every slip-up we have because that’s just how viruses are. So let’s not let it defeat us.”
People need to ask themselves what they have done to join the fight, Saag said.
“We are being challenged by a virus that is declaring war on the world, and each country has got to fight this off using all of the knowledge we’ve gained from the Spanish flu epidemic — which is where the concept of masks and social distance came from — as well as our knowledge of science to develop vaccine and treatments,” he said. “Even if you’re not a scientist or a clinician, you’re a member of the public, and we all should be doing what we can to prevent the spread.”
From left: Patricia Billingsley, Christine McKinnon, Alliyah Gaines and Willie Rivers, staff members of UAB’s Environmental Services team, stand in the Jim Limbaugh Family Park of Hope in front of the Women and Infants Center on Sixth Avenue South on July 3. Photo by Erin Nelson.
UAB Environmental Services staff on the pandemic frontline
By JESSE CHAMBERS
The doctors, nurses and other health care workers at UAB have been praised — and with good reason — for their heroic efforts at the frontline of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But there’s another group of UAB workers on the frontline: the 530 employees of Environmental Services (EVS) who clean and sanitize the patient care and public areas at UAB Hospital and related facilities.
“You can’t get into this hospital until our team says your bed or room is clean and ready,” EVS senior Director Ed Crump told Iron City Ink. “It starts with us.”
The work these employees do is “critical” to patient health, Crump said.
Crump and his staff don’t want patients who come to UAB “to become any sicker than they already are,” he said.
“Their job is to make sure we don't cause any crosscontamination from one patient to another,” Crump said.
This is a massive job. Each day, EVS employees clean 400 beds for new patients and another 700 or 800 beds for patients already in the hospital, Crump said.
EVS cleans a staggering 4.5 million square feet daily, he said.
And EVS works shifts 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Crump is proud of his team. “We’re a big place, and it’s amazing how they make it happen,” he said.
During the pandemic, the people of Birmingham should be glad the city has a large medical facility like UAB with “a lot of people and resources,” Crump said, praising the people who work “behind the scenes” in departments like maintenance, facilities, emergency management and infection prevention to have employees ready to deal with crises before they occur.
Emergency management worked with EVS on how to handle a pandemic and infection prevention worked with Crump’s staff regarding how to clean properly.
“Those support departments work so well together to the point that COVID-19 really did not catch us by surprise,” Crump said.
The sheer number of patients affected by the pandemic was surprising, Crump said. “But we know how to do it.”
