Little did Mehdi Abbasi know, his hobby would lead to the creation of the new Cinnamon Café and hookah bar located on King Street. Last year, while visiting the local hookah bar in Saint John, the idea dawned on him.
“My friend was living there so he took me to a restaurant and he had hookah with his food. So I said to myself, ‘Okay, that sounds good, why don’t we have that in Fredericton,’” said Abbasi, a second-year business student at UNB.
Originating in the Middle East, hookahs are large waterpipes used for smoking flavoured tobacco called shisha, often enjoyed by a circle of friends with their tea and a game of cards. Shisha began as a means of preserving smoking tobacco on long desert treks. Later, it was adapted for smoking other herb and hashish.
Slow burning coals are carefully placed over a layer of punctured tin which sits atop a ceramic bowl filled with shisha. The practice has gone international and people of all ages and cultures enjoy hookah.
Before she started Cinnamon Café with her son, Abbasi’s mother, Shokooh Mostafaie, worked as a dentist in Tehran. But in order to practice in Canada she needs to study at university for a couple of years. So, she decided to start a new business in the meantime. For a while it was still unclear as to exactly what type of business she would bring to the city.
“She wanted to open a coffee shop, I told her, ‘Why not use hookah,’” said Abbasi.
Still, it took over a month of research and convincing on Abbassi’s part before his mother agreed. Then the Cinnamon Café had to jump through hoops before they could open.
The café had to overcome the anti-tobacco legislature which prohibits serving tobacco shisha. The café compromised and only serves herbal tobbaco-free shisha. However, these tobacco-free shishas are available in a wide variety of flavours including watermelon, mint and lemon, apple and grape. So, non-smokers can enjoy the experience of smoking hookah too.
After speaking with the city, they installed a custom venting system to deal with the issue of second hand smoke. An age requirement was introduced making it so that those 16-years-old and younger aren’t allowed to smoke, but are welcome to enjoy the food menu.
Still, those unfamiliar with smoking hookah should take into account that there are still health risk associated with smoking shisha, even the herbal variety.
The Cinnamon Café has 16 hookahs in stock, organized by flavour so only a single flavour is ever used in each one, keeping it pure and fresh. The hookah comes packed, capped and toasty, the shisha sweet and juicy.
Now three weeks old, the café is open for business. You can try Mostafaie’s hand baked goods and have Abbasi take you through the hookah smoking process. And don’t worry shisha newbies, Abbasi takes care of everything. He’ll even teach you how to inhale properly so that you get the most out of your hookah experience.
“When it’s their first time I check on them, I talk to them, I show them how to use it to get a better experience.”
Cinnamon Café is located at 469 King Street.
