508 Greenwich St. (just off Spring St.) 212-675-4350 www.housemanrestaurant.com

American. Houseman is as surprising as a browned butter crouton in a bowl of malt ice cream. Just add hot fudge and you’ve gone from analogy to menu. Yet it’s only one of the many deliciously memorable creations you will encounter within these walls. I hesitate to use the word salad because it cannot possibly do justice to the dish placed before me. This is a fairytale blend of maitake mushrooms, escarole, parmesan, seeds and nuts which must be tasted to be believed. They also offered another (endive, citrus fruits, olives, pistachios, dried mint, yogurt), further proof of such slavish devotion to organic originality. Let us move to the entrées, although you can probably tell where this is going. Both the roasted half chicken (carrots, croutons, paprika, capers) and grilled beef and cheese sausage (fried potatoes, wilted radicchio, black pepper) are generous in size as well as stature. They are truly invested in all their ingredients, and we reap the rewards with every bite. Never before have I held the crouton in such high esteem. And it is Houseman I have to thank for that.