Local Turkish coffee shop may be in the clear despite hooka smoking ban

By JOSH SWARTZLANDER
August 02, 2004

A little more than a year ago, Jamal and Sana Husein opened Sultana's Kahve Turkish Coffee Shop in northeast Lincoln, hoping to bring a taste of their native Palestine to the Midwest.

In late June, when the Lincoln City Council passed a surprise comprehensive smoking ban, the Huseins thought they might lose their business.

But those fears were put to rest – mostly.

Smoke shops, or places of employment devoted primarily to the sale of hooka tobacco or tobacco products, are exempt from even the stringent smoking ban passed by the City Council.

But it took some work on Jamal's part to find that out. He obtained a copy of the ordinance, read it and contacted a city attorney, who told him not to worry.

"She didn't have any answers for me. She told me to get a lawyer," Jamal said.

The Huseins and their faithful patrons breathed a sigh of relief when they found out Sultana's Kahve could get an exemption from the ban.

Still, given his shops uniqueness, Jamal isn't entirely satisfied and isn't exactly sure what the future holds for his store.

"Our store is completely different from any other store," Jamal said. "We'll wait to see what they are going to do, and then we'll fight if we have to."

In Sultana's Kahve, 2310 N. 1st St., patrons use the hooka, a kind of water pipe, to smoke flavored shisha tobacco – double apple, strawberry, cappuccino, Lebanese cedar. The tobacco is heated with coals and smoked through a standing pipe.

Outside of Chicago, the shop is the only one of its kind in the Midwest.

And it is truly a unique experience.

For sale on the walls are Arabic CDs and tapes. "Belly-dancing" music plays in the background. Sometimes live al Jazeera is playing on T.V.

The social atmosphere of Sultana's Kahve created by the hooka keeps people coming back, Jamal said.

Patrons, mostly college students and people of Middle Eastern decent, can share stories and enjoy a game of backgammon or dominoes while they smoke the hooka, he said.

Mark Thornton, a day-care worker who recently graduated from Lincoln Northeast High School, not only frequents Sultana's Kahve, but he now owns his own hooka, which he purchased from the shop.

"When the sun goes down, the hooka comes out," Thornton said.

"All you do is talk. We've done Bible studies with hookas. People just open up."

Eric Nolan, a UNL student who is going into the air force, agreed.

"You can sit down, talk and relax and not worry about anything" at the shop, Nolan said.

Patrons also said it was healthier and safer to smoke hooka tobacco – which contains no tar – than to smoke cigarettes, or to go to a bar and drink.

"It's a lot cleaner," Thornton said. "It just feels like you're breathing in air.

"It's a cultural thing too. It's nice to meet people from around the world."

Lincoln Board of Health President Ed Schneider said second-hand smoke, which contributes to 40,000 heart attacks per year, was the main concern tackled by the smoking ban.

"From our perspective, there is not a freedom that allows you to hurt anyone else," he said.

But because most people come into Sultana's Kahve for the smoking, it gains an exemption.

Jamal, who is a native of the West Bank but has lived in Lincoln since 1981, said Turkish coffee shops and hookah smoking are common all over the Middle East – Jordan, Morocco, the Sudan, Egypt, Iraq.

He said the stimulus to open the shop came during a trip to Egypt and Jordan in 1998, on which he and his wife spent most of their time in coffee shops.

They decided to bring a taste of home back to Lincoln.

"We decided we had to do something," Jamal said.

Thus, Sultana's Kahve was born.

About a year later, the Huseins thought their shop was endangered.

In a surprise vote on June 28, the Lincoln City Council passed a ban that made smoking illegal in almost all indoor public places and workplaces.

The less stringent ordinance that allowed shisha smoking in businesses where food sales made up less than 60 percent of total sales was discarded.

Because of a petition, the City Council will reconsider the issue. If the council votes for the complete smoking ban again, Lincoln voters will make the final decision.

Meanwhile, even though the smoking ban may not directly affect his business, Jamal is not happy.

"If I see my business drop, I'll move somewhere else. If they ban it in all of Nebraska, I'll move to Iowa," Jamal said.

"They have to remember that some people came from somewhere else."