Hookahs draw out the evening
SARAH KNOTT | ENQUIRER CONTRIBUTOR

Popular flavors of shisha tobacco for hookah smoking include grape, watermelon, apple, strawberry and apricot. Normal prices are $7-$12, but there are some freebie nights. Give it a go at:

Andy's Mediterranean Grille, 906 Nassau St., Walnut Hills; (513) 281-9791. Free hookah weekday nights after 10 p.m.

Mediterranean Maza Bar, 9104 Cox Road, West Chester Township; (513) 777-8333. $7.

Mejana, 25 W. Sixth St., downtown; (513) 333-0660. Free hookah smoking Friday and Saturday nights after 9 p.m.

Trend or tradition? Since smoking the hookah is sometimes a traditional part of Middle Eastern meals, several area restaurants have offered hookah for patrons ages 18 and over since they opened their doors. And yes, you might be carded.

The hookah sat on the table at Mejana downtown, its protruding tube pointing like a wagging finger.

"Tsk, tsk," it seemed to say. "You don't know what I am or how I work? I'm so popular around the world!"

The hookah, a traditional Middle Eastern water pipe for smoking tobacco, wouldn't have been lying.

According to a July study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, some 100 million people worldwide smoke a hookah daily. Using it to smoke fruit-, honey- or molasses-flavored tobacco is an ancient tradition in places such as Turkey, Pakistan and India. In modern times, hookah and hookah bars are popping up in big cities, adding sweet-smelling smoke to evening conversation.

My friend and I finished a meal of grape leaf appetizers, lamb and couscous at Mejana and decided, giggling, to order the strawberry hookah for "dessert."

"What do we do?" I asked. A long, small tube was connected to the hookah's side. A metal tray held a small patty of lit coals. While we examined the contraption, our server explained that the coals provide the heat needed for burning the tobacco inside of the hookah.

With every puff, the nicotine and tar is supposedly filtered through water in the hookah's belly, and the smoke comes back up through the pipe. My friend shrugged, grabbed the tube and inhaled with short breaths. The device gurgled like the third bar of a Cypress Hill song.

"There's enough in there for about one to two hours," explained our server. We knew we wouldn't last more than 10 minutes, but according to Andy Hajjar, owner of Andy's Mediterranean Grille, many customers add hookah as an extension to their evening.

"Most people like it after dinner," he says, adding that the experience is exceptional when sipping Lebanese coffee. "Here, people can smoke it outside or on our outside deck. It's smooth and relaxing."

Hajjar recently joined a table of customers that included Janet Schafer of Amelia. It was Schafer's first time, and Hajjar offered a tutorial before he sat down to chat.

"He stuck around for a while to get to know us," she said. "I was with my boss, and a customer, so it also gave us a chance to spend a little more time talking with each other. We all liked it. It was relaxing and fun."