Hookah bars predict smoky futures

Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.

Whether customers will continue to light the hookah after dinner at their favorite restaurant seems to be a matter of what is being lit.

If it's tobacco, even a small amount, the answer appears to be no. A legal, tobacco-free mixture, however, might be permissible under the state's tough new smoking ban that takes effect Dec. 8.

Hookahs - multistemmed water pipes used to smoke a combination of tobacco and other substances, such as molasses, honey or dried fruits - have become a popular addition to many Mediterranean restaurants in the valley.

Owners of the roughly dozen local hookah bars worry that if post-dinner hookah smoking is outlawed, they could lose a major customer draw.

"This is such a tough business that you need everything little thing you can get," said Mona Naser, owner of the Olive Mediterranean Grill and Hookah Bar in Henderson. "We have a lot of regular customers and they all love the hookah after dinner."

Naser, who has operated the restaurant on Sunset Road near Sandhill Road for almost two years but has been in the hookah business for 15 years, said the hookah is not just a form of after-dinner relaxation, but a part of the Mediterranean culture. She likened the fondness for the device to the affinity that others have for a glass of wine before or after dinner.

With nearly 90 percent of her customers using the hookah, Naser is concerned about a potentially precipitous drop off in business if they no longer can do so.

Tobacco, she said, comprises only a small portion of the hookah mixture and is used primarily to keep the other substances burning.

Naser turned to the Southern Nevada Health District for guidance on the matter and expects to have an answer within days.

Jennifer Sizemore, a Health District spokeswoman, said the amount of tobacco does not seem to matter.

"We are still researching how it applies to different establishments, but tobacco seems to be the key word," she said.

In other words, any tobacco is too much.

That's how Jeff Ecker of Paymon's Mediterranean Cafe and Hookah Lounge interprets the new law.

Both Paymon's locations, Ecker said, will comply with the change, using herbal mixtures with dried fruits, honey and molasses - but no tobacco.

As a sort of taste test conducted with the impending change in mind, Ecker recently replaced a traditional mixture with the new blend, using it on some of his regular customers, without their knowledge.

"The response was overwhelmingly positive," he said. "Some of the people have been coming here for a long time and are real connoisseurs and most of them did not know."

But even as he prepares to make the change, Ecker questioned the possible application of the new law, touted by supporters as a way to protect children.

"How can a law which outlaws smoking in a hookah lounge, where kids aren't allowed, but allows it in a casino, where they are allowed, protect children?" (Although minors cannot legally wager in casinos, children accompanied by their parents or other adults often walk through casinos.)

No one under 18 is permitted in a hookah bar and Paymon's prohibits anyone under 21 from entering its lounge.

Paymon's also now prohibits smoking or the sale of tobacco anywhere in the restaurants, even on patios, where the new ban does not apply.

"We're not taking any chances that it can get mixed in with the hookah," Ecker said.

Ecker has asked attorneys for the Nevada Restaurant Association to confirm his interpretation of the law but has not received a response.

Paul Hartgen of the Nevada Restaurant Association said the group is looking into the request and should have an answer before the ban takes effect.

Lorne Malkiewich, director of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, said Ecker seems to be on solid legal ground.

"All I can do at this point is read the petition, and it says tobacco," he said.

In other states that already have smoking bans, there is no consensus on the hookah issue.

California's nonsmoking ordinance is a workplace ban that includes restaurants, but hookah bars in that state have skirted the ban by using outdoor patios.

Washington, D.C., instituted a smoking ban, but approved an exemption for hookah bars. And Ohio's new law, approved by voters this month, allows hookah bars to remain open as long as 80 percent of their gross revenue is derived from tobacco.