Some younger-thans are destined to live in their older sibling’s shadow (see: any Baldwin other than Alec). But a rare few are able to make their own mark: the Solanges, the Elizabeth Olsens. And now, the Ramonas. Ballsier than its forerunner, Elsa, this Greenpoint kid sister amps up the drama: The h0mE design firm (which also furbished nearby Alameda and Tørst) decked out the space with a gleaming Carrara marble bar, oversize copper-pipe chandeliers and pencil drawings of breasts on the walls. Style runs in the family, and luckily, so do stellar cocktails.
DRINK THIS: Even the loveliest drinks on the menu—carryovers from Elsa—have surprising potency: The Boxer, Beetle ($11) looks primed for Pinterest, with its bobbing blackberry, neat sprig of mint and rosy pomegranate-syrup hue, but winter-warming bourbon and dry all-spice dram lend cold-weather heft. Though it’s as vivid as a fruit smoothie, the apple-brandy-spiked An Arm Above the Last Wave ($12) swaps sweetness for a deep, heady hit of roasted cacao and musky, herbal green chartreuse.
GOOD FOR: An intimate date or rowdy group meet, both equally suitable at the expansive, bi-level drinkery. Touchy-feely couples take over the candlelit mezzanine, while solo drinkers tap away at iPads over dark-spirit sips at the bar, and lit-up crews congregate in the U-shaped banquette, dishing about Tinder escapades over a Talking Heads–heavy soundtrack.
THE CLINCHER: The bar doesn’t rest on its good looks—this place takes pride in its cocktailing. Quaffs come barrel-aged, tapped and rendered sumptuously smoky with tobacco bitters, as bartenders tinker with house-made grenadines and syrups. Like its stunner of a sibling, Ramona displays booze know-how that proves it’s more than just a pretty face.