Coconut curry at Haiku

Are you one of those black-eyed-peas-and-greens-on-New-Year's people? I'm not. Mostly because those aren't exactly my favorite things to eat. But this year I unwittingly created my own New Year's food ritual.

See, I took a longish break from work (and, thus, from dining out) over the holidays and did a lot of cooking at home and eating with family. It was great. But by New Year's Day, I was itching for a restaurant dinner. What I hadn't thought about, though, is that most restaurant folks are itching for a much-deserved day off on New Year's Day, and so on my trek down High Street I encountered closed restaurant after closed restaurant after closed restaurant.

Then I glimpsed the white twinkling lights of Haiku, a place I always think about during patio season but rarely in the depths of winter. On this frigid night, it was a glistening oasis of food, and I'm very grateful to the crew who worked that night so I could eat. Anyway, as I mentioned, it was really cold outside, so I was craving something warm. And this bowl of Siamese Coconut Curry Noodle soup really hit the spot. It's simple but decadent: noodles, basil and thinly sliced lemongrass and scallions swimming in a huge bowl of spicy coconut curry broth. So good.

And it wasn't until about halfway through splitting the bowl (we also ordered some sushi) that my boyfriend and I remembered that we'd done the exact opposite last New Year's, cooking a giant vat of coconut curry from scratch at home. Voila! A tradition is born.

Haiku

800 N. High St., Short North

614-294-8168

haikushortnorth.com