ARE YOU VIP LOUNGE MATERIAL? >>>

Calling all cigar enthusiasts: Remember the ol' El Gaucho cigar lounge?

Well, dear stogie smokers, the windowless room tucked in the back right corner of the Tacoma fine dining restaurant will reopen Monday - if the final tweaks to comply with state laws are carried out. At this point, all signs point to that happening.

Also back running the show with two business partners will be Santos Samson, the cigar lounge's original cigar captain. After the state smoking ban law shut down many cigar lounges Samson left El Gaucho for a job with Xgroup Restaurants - Asado and Masa.  Mackay Restaurant Group owner Paul Mackay wanted the cigar lounge back in his El Gaucho restaurant and tracked down Samson, which wasn't hard in this tight community. Operating as a separate business from El Gaucho, and constructing a long see-through glass wall, the cigar lounge will comply with all the state regulations, including the 25 feet from the door rule.

Titled the VIP Lounge, the room will have an Old World romantic feel to it, as opposed to a flashy sports bar, says Samson. Yes, the flatscreen TV will be back with the game on, but it's not going to be the focus. Instead, the focus will be on the clients, especially the former members of the old cigar lounge, says Samson.

In accordance with the law, the lounge will not be open to the general public but rather only available to El Gaucho VIPs. You must be invited to enter the room. It's not a membership club. The former members who occupied the cigar humidor lockers have first rights to the VIP status. The humidor lockers go for $500 a year.

The VIP Lounge will only be open Friday through Monday. Beer, wine and liquor will be available through El Gaucho. However, the law states El Gaucho ownership and employees can't enter the smoking lounge. Samson and his business two partners — operating under the company VIP Services, LLC — will serve the the VIPs.

If you drop by the VIP Lounge to meet Samson, be sure to drop my name. I can see myself lounging in an overstuffed chair, watching the game, sipping scotch and puffing away on a fat stogie. I can so see that.

[VIP Room inside El Gaucho, 5-11 p.m. Monday, 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. Saturday, 4:30-11 p.m. Sunday, 2119 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.882.0009]