Monterey County revels in a cigar and martini trend on its way out.

We''re all suckers for an image. Think about it. "Friends" star Jennifer Aniston wears her hair in her face, and suddenly women across the country are sporting the same look.

O.J. Simpson stands trial for the murder of his wife, and sales of Bruno Magli shoes--like the very ones which may have left the bloody footprint--triples.

So when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Demi Moore mug for magazine covers with a stinky old stogie hanging from their lips, like we''re not gonna follow?

Monterey County, with all of its literary heritage and rich immigrant tradition, is not exempt from such flagrant adulation of all things celluloid. Au contraire. The AT&T is built as much on stargazing as on a celebration of athleticism. Clint Eastwood was one of our mayors, and don''t you forget it. And John Denver could''ve flown anywhere, but he chose here, God rest his soul.

The current craze over cigars and martinis is a prime example of our desire to rub elbows with the finer things in life. Forget that it''s a trend that has become downright pass‚ in hip urban areas like LA and New York. Light up a Cohiba Esplendidos while you wait for your dry vodka martini to arrive in Monterey, and see who doesn''t notice you. Sophistication. Power. Money. You''ve got it baby, and everyone knows it.

"It''s about how someone feels when standing there holding a $12 cigar and $10 cocktail and everyone is looking at them," explains Joe Guerra, manager of The Humidor at the Crossroads in Carmel.

"Cigars are like the ultimate pleasure for a man. [When you''re] out with a buddy, enjoying a cigar, there are no bills to pay, no problems, no dog chewing on the furniture. For an hour [you''ve] escaped and Marilyn Monroe is giving you a massage."

"You have fine magazine like Cigar Aficionado introducing people to cigars, and celebrities smoking cigars, and everyone just wants to be like the big shots," says Amad Markhieh, owner of the appropriately named Big Shot Cigars on Foam Street in Monterey.

Both shops, which opened within the past year, are proof positive that the cigar fad is in full swing on the Peninsula. Before now, only the old-time smoke shops like Hellams and Carmel Pipe Shop offered any kind of selection of cigars. Now there are also more bars selling cigars to patrons, and the popular "Cigar Dinners" popping up almost monthly. The stage is set for paying homage to something your mother made your father smoke outside because it stunk up the house.

Outdoors. Now there''s a natural solution for what''s got to be one of the more odoriferous hobbies of modern society. It''s not surprising that cigar smoking and golf--another one of the culture''s pastimes of privilege--go hand in hand. "When the guys are out golfing on weekends, it''s time away," says Guerra. "You''re outdoors, nobody''s gonna get mad at you for smoking a cigar. It''s a peaceful and casual way of being outdoors and enjoying golf."

"It''s a masculine, male-bonding type of thing," agrees Gary Dressler, assistant manager of the Pebble Beach Golf Shop. (This despite Pebble Beach Co. staffers acknowledging that in recent years, women are also blowing smoke out in that clean, fresh ocean air.)

Ironically, the cigar tent at AT&T was closed last year because of complaints from audience members about all the cigar smoke wafting through the stands.

Nonetheless, people at the golf shop anticipate cigars will be in demand this week. Inside the dark wood interior of the dim sales room, five irons and leather golf bags lining the walls, a small humidor sits atop a back counter holding a modest selection of mid-priced cigars--Romeo and Juliettas Churchills, La Gloria Cubana Wavell''s. Shops at both Pebble Beach and the Inn at Spanish Bay also sell the assorted pricey paraphernalia that goes with the cigar culture. There are cutters, cigar cuff links, and the silk $80 Robert Talbott cigar ties. "It''s about affluence," observes one sales clerk.

There''s an inexplicable correlation between cigars and money. Maybe it''s because the damn things cost so much. A vintage Macanudo demands a $22 price tag. That''s a lot of dough for something you''re going to light on fire. But it''s not just the cigar itself that''s expensive; it''s all the stuff that goes along with the cigar culture. The cutter, the lighter, a nice crystal ashtray. And don''t forget the humidor which can run you between a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. "It''s a fun hobby, it''s a really interesting hobby, and it can be a very expensive hobby," Guerra notes dryly.

If there''s any place to flaunt expensive habits, AT&T is it. The Pebble Beach resort itself could be a backdrop for any one of the numerous ads in Cigar Aficionado, the premiere publication most credited for elevating the sales of cigars to near the $1 billion mark. Here it is, all the signs of the good life. Tailored clothing, fine cars, golf clubs that cost as much as a year at a public college. Stick a burning stogie in your mouth and you may be mistaken for one of them. If you''re lucky.

That''s not a bad legacy for a weed Columbus "discovered" more than 500 years ago as he witnessed New World natives stoking up corn husk-wrapped smokes. But it was the Spaniards in Cuba who brought cigars to sophisticated European society. Word spread over the Continent over the next 300 years that this was a smoke which signified wealth, elegance and power. Queen Victoria''s son Edward VII sealed the cigar''s royalty when, upon the occasion of his coronation in 1901 he declared, "Gentlemen, you may now smoke."

Cigarettes eventually took over the market, first in the 1920s, and then later in 1962 when President Kennedy declared an embargo on all Cuban goods (not before securing himself a bunker full of H. Upmann Petit Coronas). That was when cigars definitively fell out of favor, and slowly became the trademark of old timers stuck in their ways a la Archie Bunker.

What changed to bring cigars back into fashion? The cover story in a July, 1997 issue of Newsweek described the cigar frenzy as an extension of a consumer society defined under the Yuppie moniker: "Sure, we''ve already got Range Rovers, power ties, microbrews and gourmet stores stocked with more types of olive oil than there are Italians. But what can ''90s boomers consume more conspicuously than a cigar? A cigar doesn''t merely display its owner''s taste--it literally waves it under other people''s noses."

But all this talk about conspicuous displays of wealth and privilege, not to mention the mere thrill of being on the cutting edge of a trend, begs the question: Aren''t cigars bad for you?

"I think people are deluding themselves because they think cigars are not harmful," says Janine Nunez Robinette of the Monterey County Health Department''s chronic disease prevention branch. "Because you don''t inhale and because they don''t smoke the number of cigars that cigarette smokers smoke, they think it''s not so bad."

The danger, Robinette says, is especially compounded when you have former cigarette smokers turning to the "less harmful" cigar as a safe way to smoke, but who naturally inhale. The inhaled smoke from one cigar equals that of 10-15 cigarettes.

The facts are, according to the California Department of Health Services, cigar smokers do absorb nicotine whether or not they inhale deeply, and have a four-10 times higher risk of dying from mouth or throat cancer than non-smokers. A single fat-cat stogie can also contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes. And the cigar may be more dangerous for the non-smokers subjected to its smoke since a burning cigar emits 25 times the amount of carbon monoxide of a burning cigarette.

But despite the obvious health risks associated with holding any burning substance between your lips, medical professionals admit that smoking an occasional cigar--the requisite bachelor party smoke, a stogie when your son is born, or a puff when AT&T is in town--probably won''t kill you. "Once a year, even once a week, it''s very unlikely to hurt you," says Robinette. "But I do worry that we create a society that says it''s OK to smoke a cigar. Where do we draw the line?"

As for cigar smokers, they''ve heard the warnings, but somehow, a class-act cigar just makes it seem a more acceptable risk. "There''s something about a cigar that doesn''t look bad or sound bad," insists Guerra, although he admits he only smokes "one or two" cigars a week. "When you say you smoke cigarettes, it sounds so nasty. But when you say you smoke cigars, it sounds like you''re the head of IBM."

Ironically, just as cigars hit it big locally, the state law banning smoking in bars threatens to dampen the spirit. Places with outside seating areas are at a definite advantage with the new smoking laws than others. But although many bar owners say it is too early to tell how the laws will affect their business, some managers say the change is welcome. "It more than likely helped," says Cibo bartender Chris Hanscom. "This is probably one the most popular spots around, and if you get 30-40 smokers going at one time, it can be hazardous for everyone." Cibo, a prime destination for the sophisticated cigar and martini crowd, still sells cigars from the humidor at the bar. Now patrons just step outside to enjoy their habit.

Cigars aren''t the only item on today''s short list of good clean adult entertainment. Martinis--the drink your mom was supposed to have waiting for your dad at the end of a long day--has also re-emerged as a vice du jour. And the high-octane tonic is a natural cigar accompaniment.

"[Martinis and cigars] both have a sense of style. They are both relaxing. It''s American''s big right to have fun. Cigars and cocktails are fun," says LALLApalooza owner Pat Ottone. "It goes back to people cutting back. When they do drink or go out and have a good time, they want to have the full experience."

Open just five weeks, Ottone says LALLApalooza has already had many nights where he''s done "better than expected" at the new Alvarado Street locale. The draw? A sleek urban restaurant catering to the see-and-be-seen crowd of 30 and 40-somethings who like to indulge in a little sophisticated fun. The bar humidor offers the smoke, and Ottone says he sells about three to four cigars a night. And the impressive martini menu holds some 12 variations of that old gin and vermouth standby.

On a recent Friday evening, not yet 6pm, the bar is packed with upscale, attractive singles and their friends while blues music pumps out onto Alvarado Street from the outside speakers. Even the waitresses precariously hoisting loaded trays of fragile martini glasses seem to be having a good time. It''s like a modern day version of a big Vegas pool party with the Rat Pack.

"It''s the only real, traditional American drink, and it''s like a slice of American life," says Ottone, "it''s been a part of the movie scene, the White House. It makes you feel sophisticated."

Only Dean Martin wouldn''t have been caught dead drinking some of the concoctions that today pass for martinis. Can you see Sinatra sipping a Double Chocolate: vodka, Godiva chocolate liqueur and Kalua poured into a chilled glass rimmed with powered chocolate? Or how ''bout Sammy chomping down the jalepe¤o-stuffed olive at the bottom of the Cajun Inferno, made with Absolut pepper vodka, shaken with ice and poured into a chilled glass rimmed with Old Bay seasoning? This is definitely not your father''s martini.

"The old time martini drinkers scoff at it, they think its kind of a silly thing to offer so many kinds," says Kate Adams, a bartender at Ferrante''s, atop the Monterey Marriott. Like many lounges, Ferrante''s offers a martini menu that features the traditional cocktails, and variations that allow patrons to get the cool stem glass and dabble in debonair without having to suck back a few straight shots of hard liquor.

Like cigars, martinis are not for the faint-hearted. Bartenders say they are constantly asked to pour martinis for people who''ve never tried them before. Hanscom, who will go through three 40-glass sets of martini glasses a night, says he usually has to explain to such customers that a traditional martini is about 99.8 percent straight alcohol. "A martini done right is one to two drops of vermouth, no more," he warns.

Adams says she''ll usually start people off with something more mild, like the Cosmopolitan made with vodka, Triple Sec, lime and cranberry juices.

Many of the drinks on the increasing number of martini menus popping up at bars, in fact, aren''t even martinis. But drinks such as the Lemon Drop or the Cosmopolitan have become so popular, they can be called the "new" martinis, a ''90s version of an old-fashioned cocktail.

"I think people think it''s kind of fun," says Adams, about the high demand for martini drinks. "They think its a kind of grown-up drink and they think, ''Hey I''m a grown up now.''"

"It goes with the trend of drinking less but drinking better. If you are drinking, you may not drink 12 beers, but instead one nice cocktail before dinner," adds Ottone.

Will the martini and cigar trend last? Reports are already in that single scotch malts are IT, and that pipes may be making a comeback. For Monterey County, which, as one local bartender sniffs, is about six months to a year behind haute couture, you probably won''t see a change too soon. But places like The Humidor are already planning to offer some pipe products in the next coming months, just to be ready.

For now, we go on smoking our cigars, wishing we could drive like Tiger Woods, and sipping pseudo-martinis in nifty stem glasses. As bartender Adams says, "It''s that classic Bogey and Bacall thing: You drink a martini, smoke a cigar, fall in love and everything is right with the world." Touch‚.