Pipe dreams; Hookahs are igniting night life in Boston
Boston Herald, Jul 11, 2005 by TENLEY WOODMAN

The Boston summer scene is smoking - literally.

Theater District hot spot Tantric is hoping to lure a loungelike clientele withHookah Friday Nights, which kicked off last week.

Belly dancers bedazzle patrons, and hookahs, an Indian/Middle Eastern smoking device, are availble to rent ($20) for use on the patio.

"It's an old tradition back home in India. People used to smoke charcoal just to have some enjoyment. There was nothing like nicotine. They used some charcoal and some flavored tobacco and they used to pipe it out," said Ashish Egi, Tantric's manager.

Hookahs are upright, ornate containers filled with water that slowly cook flavored tobacco over burning coals. No, they are notfor opium or marijuana use.

"Some people don't even know what a hookah is. We have some people from the Middle East and they let them try. I've seen people try and then come back the next weekend. We are building up a clientele," Egi said.

The smoking ban in Boston has made hookahs strictly a seasonal option.

Indian restaurant Mantra once boasted an elaborate hookah den, but that has since been turned into a special-functions room.

However, Mantra's sister restaurant Kashmir on Newbury Street offers hookah rentals for $25 - for outside smoking only.

"About 70 percent has been Americans," said Amrik Pabla, owner of Mantra and Kashmir, of hookah rentals.

Pabla, a native of Punjab, India, said flavored tobaccos are part of the hookah's fun. Kashmir offers apple, green apple, grape and strawberry tobacco.

"It's more of an intrigue than anything. Once you try it you love it," Pabla said.

The one place in Boston where the smoking ban does not affect hookah use is Tangierino Casbah Lounge in Charlestown.

Owner and executive chef Samad Namaad hails from Morocco and wanted to re-create the essence of his homeland. He filed for a special smoking bar license and placed the lounge adjacent to his restaurant, Tangierino.

"In North Africa and the Middle East it becomes part of their ongoing routine. You find it inside houses among families for leisure time," Namaad said.

In the lounge, patrons are allowed to smoke cigars and cigarettes, but Namaad said the hookahs are the draw.

"It's the funniest thing. Everybody is curious to try it, even older people," he said.

But before you try, there is hookah etiquette to master:

"You cannot point the hookah toward someone. If you do it, it is like defiance. Pointing the tip toward yourself (when you pass it) is showing that it is coming from you, from your heart," Pabla said.

In some countries, it is also considered an insult to place the hookah on the table, and it is impolite to light a cigarette off of the coals.

"Some people say it brings bad luck. To me it's more of a safety thing," Namaad said.

Newbies shouldn't worry. Smoking the hookah is a social activity, and Egi, Pabla and Namaad want people to enjoy it.

"We have a variety of customers. We don't enforce anything. We let people enjoy the smoke," Namaad said.