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Set off the rear lobby of a busy office building, Roberto Filho’s serene two-room salon feels like a lovely garden-level apartment that just happens to have six styling chairs, a pair of shampooing sinks, and a row of old-fashioned dome hairdryers lining the walls. Parquet floors, high ceilings, gilt-edged mirrors, and a sage-and-cream color palette add to the charm of the space that owner–senior stylist Filho, a seventeen-year vet of Manhattan salons, has occupied since 2006. (Three additional hairstylists and a manicurist round out the staff.) His clients, Filho says, come for the “famously consistent” haircuts, which look good even after they’ve grown out, as well as haircolor done with Goldwell and Alfa-Parf products. But the salon’s signature specialty—brought over by Filho from his native Rio de Janeiro more than two decades ago—is undeniably the Brazilian Keratin Treatment, which uses a special serum to de-frizz and straighten hair; the process takes just over an hour, but the resulting smooth locks can last up to three months. — Sarah Gold