Jack the Horse Tavern

Description
Like many quaint neighborhood restaurants in Brooklyn, modern-American eatery Jack the Horse Tavern is a place you want to love despite its faults. The space is airy and clean, and a wall of picture windows looks out onto a tree-lined Brooklyn Heights street. The short menu is filled with seasonal ingredients—like a surprisingly refreshing salmon tartare made with creamy cubes of pink salmon mixed with a velvety lime crème fraîche. But the dry German sausage entrée couldn’t be saved by even a squirt of mustard. Cocktail cultists, though, will be more than happy. The bar attracts a devoted clientele thanks to the precocious wizardry of head bartender Maxwell Britten. His cockle-warming creations include the Robbie Robbie, a spin on the Scotch-based Rob Roy with Luxardo’s cinnamon-flavored bitter, Amaro Abano. The citrusy Oceanic Royal Punch is a rum-based reviver whose accents of prosecco and grapefruit-nutmeg syrup sparkle on the tongue. Britten is known to try out new concoctions on willing patrons. If he offers, let him do as he likes—his is a horse worth betting on.