"Houseman has special sound-absorbing panels on the ceiling, and it’s on a block of Soho that not a lot of people wander down - so it doesn’t get annoyingly busy. For dinner, there are some reasonably priced small plates that wouldn’t seem out of place on a tasting menu, and they serve a pretty great burger as well. Come here for relative peace and quiet in a restaurant that would be five times busier if it were in Nolita." - bryan kim, katherine lewin