On a recent trip to Atlanta for an orchid show, our friend Tish arranged dinner at a middle eastern restaurant called Divan. Tish is one of the most flexible vegetarians I know and we've been to all sorts of places with her, even seafood restaurants. She can always talk the kitchen into preparing something wonderful for her tastes. At Divan we had Lebanese wine, which was a quite decent red, similar to zinfandel, and a variety of middle eastern appetizers and entrees. Tish avoided the lamb Deb and I ordered, but we all shared in the vegetarian appetizers.
One of the main attractions to this restaurant is hookah smoking. And after dinner, we decided to order a hookah. When you make an order, you choose one of several flavored tobacco mixtures. The mixtures include various fruits, molasses, or spices. We asked the waiter to bring us his favorite special blend, the contents of which he wouldn't tell. No, it wasn't that special! I think it was more mollasses and spice than fruit. The hookah tobacco mixture is placed in the bowl and a foil screen is placed on top of the bowl. The waiter brings it out fully loaded, then places a burning charcoal on top of the screen with tongs. Each smoker at the table is given a plastic mouthpiece tip - don't want to spread germs! After placing the lit charcoal on the top of the bowl, a few drags on the mouthpiece brings out a cool, sweet, and very light smoke. The smoke is almost like exhaling on a cold damp day. There's almost nothing to it.
Deb is very sensitive to tobacco smoke in restaurants and we simply avoid places that allow it. We expected there to be seperate rooms for hookah smoking and dining, but hookah smoking was allowed throughout the restaurant. They do restrict cigar and cigarette smoking to the bar. While eating, we noticed two other tables smoking hookahs and were surprised that it didn't seem any smokier than burning a few scented candles. It was fun, seemed a bit daring, and I'm glad we did it, but I don't plan to make a steady diet of hookah smoking. If you want a rush, a cigarette is a better bet. Hookah smoking is almost like candy cigarettes - at least here in America. I wonder what they really smoke in the hookah lounges of Cairo or Amman?
