Houseman

Located on a quiet block off Greenwich Street, Houseman is a true neighborhood spot. The dining room is bright and airy, filled with light wooden tables and oversize windows that open up on to the street. The menu is from a pair of chefs with real pedigrees: Prune vet Ned Baldwin and Marco’s alum Adam Baumgart. It changes more or less daily, though dishes can stick around for three days or two months. Of the smallest bites on the menu one night, crunchy fried fava beans and seeded bread with fluffy green butter are tasty to snack on while you’re deciding on entrées like creamy “pearl” cheese with grilled country bread and plump, juicy littleneck clams served alongside butter beans in a flavorful broth. And don’t miss the french fries, which Baldwin prepares by soaking Idaho russet’s for 24 hours, followed by a boil in vinegar-spiked water that is halted before the potatoes start to fall apart. They are cooled and fried once, then fried again, until they are a saturated shade of amber. A generous pinch of Diamond Crystal kosher salt goes on at the end.