Nathan Robertson is doing something few other 22-year-olds would dare try. He's going to open his own business. And, if that wasn't ambitious enough, his enterprise will bring something brand new to Sioux Falls. Robertson is opening hookah lounge.
"Right now, what I'm planning on starting is a toned down version of it because it's a lot cheaper to not have $30,000 worth of kitchen equipment," says Robertson. "It'll be more like a coffee shop, with a few baked goods--Middle Eastern desserts like baklava and stuff."
The Beginning of a Dream
Robertson first became hooked on the hookah in high school, after a few friends bought one of the water pipes in Germany. He's been to several hookah bars in cities across the United States, and he believes it's time South Dakota was exposed to this part of Middle Eastern culture.
"This is part of their lifestyle over there. This is what they do--they sit around and smoke," says Robertson. "That's just part of who they are. Then they come over here--especially here--and there's nothing even close to that."
Bringing it to Life
Robertson says he's been planning for this lounge for a couple years, and it would have taken more time to open shop if he hadn't found a business partner. He hopes to open his hookah lounge inside Common Sense, a gift shop in Downtown Sioux Falls, at the beginning of the year. While it won't quite be what he has envisioned in the beginning, Robertson has a plan for growth.
"I really want, in a year or two, to be not like a full service, sit-down restaurant, but I really want it to be a coffee shop bistro where people can order Middle Eastern foods," says Robertson.
A Foreign Concept
Click play to watch how Robertson uses his own hookah and listen to him talk about safety.
The hookah is a Middle Eastern water pipe first used in northern India. The smoker chooses a flavored tobacco, scoops in into the pipe's bowl, and lights the tobacco with coal. After a few minutes, the smoker then inhales through a long tube.
Is it Safe?
Some, including Robertson, claim smoking tobacco through a hookah is safer than using cigarettes because there is no nicotine and the water filters out most carcinogens.
"It's not good for you, but it's not as bad as some other things," says Robertson.
'It's Definitely a Niche Market'
Click play to listen to Robertson talk about the popularity of hookah lounges across the country.
As well as Middle Eastern people living in the area, Robertson hopes to attract the younger crowd to his lounge. He believes that having two universities in Sioux Falls and the two largest state schools within an hour's drive will help bring his business to life. He says he's seen hookah bars do well in cities with less youth to target--like Rapid City.
"Everywhere I've gone, it hits--it hits big. People love it," says Robertson. Supposedly it's the new fad. It's the new cigar bars."
Can't wait until it opens?
Check out some of these websites to order your own hookah:
http://www.hookah-shisha.com/
http://www.urbanhookah.com/
http://www.hookah-smoking.com/
I stumbled across this guy by complete accident. I had planned on writing a story about a class at Brookings High School where students learn restaurant health codes and how to cook like real chefs, but that one fell through again.
I had been scouring other local news sources for ideas to steal when my e-mail alerted me that someone had sent me a message on Facebook, a social networking site. I temporarily gave up my search to check out the message when I noticed the news feed said one of my friends had joined a fan group of a hookah lounge. I clicked on that link instead of my own message and found this gem.
Before leaving, I had envisioned this story very differently than what Kellyn and I actually put together. I had assumed Nathan had begun construction on his hookah bar, but when we got there and got into the interview, we discovered the lounge was very much still an abstract concept.
We were faced with a problem--how on earth do you show video of something that doesn't exist? Luckily, he had a first-draft of a menu all typed up and had printed off pictures of the furniture he wanted for the lounge. And he and his friend were more than willing to show us how to use a hookah. But at this point, I had to focus my story around the video we were able to get--something I've never been good at.
Now, the story is finished (with the potential for follow ups, of course), and I feel like it actually came together much better than I thought it would that Monday night sitting on his mom and dad's porch. I'm relieved to have it done and kind of want to go try out this hookah bar when it is open; you know what they say--news opens your eyes to new worlds...
