Black Rabbit , Brooklyn

While there’s much to be said for patrician British décor, Franklin Street fixtures could fill one too many volumes. Nevertheless, Black Rabbit storms Greenpoint’s ongoing contest for Most Patrician UK-inspired Venue for miles, largely thanks to its true-blue pedigree. Owner Kent Lanier pays homage to his Irish roots by showcasing family portraits of relatives who immigrated from the coast decades earlier. Like Jack’s down the street, Black Rabbit favorably employs red walls and iron light fixtures to amplify the countrified ambience, but the latter revels in a definitively buttoned-up posture. Dark saloon-style doors are hinged before all the booths next to the bar, allowing a modicum of privacy for seated guests, and a red button fixed to each stall summons a barback to take drink orders. The spare backyard patio, though softened by strings of white lights, services smokers looking for a quick fix rather than those seeking a handsome retreat unto itself.