The hand-drawn sign outside the new Marshall McGearty Lounge is the first indication this place isn't your normal coffeehouse. It reads: EAT, DRINK, SMOKE--BE MERRY.

As tobacco-loving Chicagoans brace for the city's phased-in ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, this new Wicker Park spot is welcoming the cigarette set with open arms and premium products. "We're bringing the connoisseur experience to the cigarette category," says Brian Stebbins of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, which owns the lounge named after the company's Marshall McGearty line of tobacco blends.

Nine Marshall McGearty flavors are on display in the tobacco counter at the front of the handsome lounge; they range from the sweet and nutty Virginian blend to the peppercorn and tea-flavored Earl. Patrons can purchase pre-packed boxes of 20 or watch as their smokes are created before their eyes with a manual cigarette machine. Either way, the premium packs cost $8 (including all taxes).

Just beyond the tobacco counter is an area known as The Library, complete with crackling fire, leather couch and Hemmingway and Scrabble on the bookshelves. The ceiling is built to resemble the slats in a barn on which tobacco is dried, while the cork floor adds to the masculine feel of the space.

A few yards farther, tucked into the rear, is the Back Porch, furnished with mod chairs and tables straight out of a '60s Bond flick.

Display cases throughout the lounge hold vintage smoking accouterments--hand-blown glass ashtrays and antique lighters. Most items can be purchased, while the vintage ashtrays on the tables are meant for use.

Even as the ashtrays fill, the breathing is easy thanks to an industrial-strength ventilation system that is designed to completely replace the air 10 times an hour. Marshall McGearty's offers non-smoking lures too, such as free WiFi service, a coffee and tea bar, and a limited selection of pastries, salads and soft drinks.

Should a pending liquor license be obtained, they'll be serving beer and wine alongside the Red Bull and OJ.

But because the place is registered as a retail tobacco store, Stebbins believes the smoking ban does not apply. Ald. Ed Smith (28th), who wrote the original ordinance, isn't so sure and says he will have to review the ban. "I don't care where it is, smoke kills," he says when asked about the Marshall McGearty lounge. "If you're inhaling smoke, it's a bad idea."

So will this "smoking sanctuary," which Stebbins believes to be the first cigarette lounge in the nation, catch fire in the Windy City or burn out amid a butt backlash? Time--and patrons' dollars--will tell.

"This is a unique experience you can't have anywhere else," says Mark Palmer, 44, smoking a Virginian while playing backgammon with a friend. "This place [corrects] what is wrong with bars--ventilation. If you notice, every place that is full of smoke is full of people."

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