Sugar And Stupor

CoCo66

66 Greenpoint Ave. (betw. Franklin and West Sts.) Greenpoint

718-389-1531

Like a drunken Manifest Destiny, entrepreneurs are marching across northern Brooklyn's industrial wastelands, apparently trying to effect a one-to-one ratio of bars to boozers. "So many people live here that need a comfortable place to drink," says Craig Shillitto. He is not speaking of Billyburg, a neighborhood supersaturated with inebriation, but rather Greenpoint. And he has a point.

Though the last several years have welcomed Mark Bar and the Pencil Factory, most Greenpoint saloons smell of gambling debts, despair and nauseating European cologne. This is why Shillitto (part-owner of Williamsburg's North Six, Red and Black and hipster danceteria Supreme Trading) and his Supreme Trading partner, David Kelleran, decided to open the sweetly named CoCo66.

It is located near Greenpoint's crumbling waterfront in Kelleran's former ground-floor woodshop, inside the building he bought 12 years ago for a "ridiculously low price," according to Shillitto. "I always told him he had a great space for a bar," says Shillitto. "And he finally agreed."

Because their resources were tapped after building Supreme Trading last year, CoCo66's construction took nine off-and-on months emphasizing reuse and reclamation. For example, the wooden benches are old ceiling beams salvaged from a construction job. Mismatched bathroom tiles are high-end leftovers. The rear room features a bank of windows salvaged from the entrance. They now overlook a? brick wall?

"We asked ourselves, 'Does it make sense?' No, but it looks nice," Shillitto says, laughing.

That much can be agreed upon. The two spacious two rooms feature a concrete floor, weathered white-tin walls, uncluttered space (save for a pool table) a skylight and plenty of seating. Fifteen people can drink at the dark, handsome bar, above which globe lights dangle, and mirrors and red lighting provide a refined, 1950s feel. It's austere, but not to the point of minimalism.

Few traces of woodshop remain, save for the loading-dock entrance. It's unfortunately located several feet above street level. To enter CoCo66, patrons must either hop onto the ledge or walk up the sloping concrete ramp. Sensing the dangerous combination of alcohol and gravity, Shillitto suggested a guardrail.

"Why do we need a guardrail?" Kelleran asked Shillitto. "I've never needed one."

"Yeah, but you don't drink in the woodshop," Shillitto replied. True to prophecy, three people slipped off the entrance on opening night. The guardrail was installed several days later.

That makes sense, yes, but what about the bar's name, CoCo66? That's derived from Kelleran's other, next-door endeavor, the Brooklyn Chocolate & Cocoa Co., where chocolatier Eric Girerd creates sweets for the Ritz-Carlton and Peninsula hotels. In coming months, the businesses will combine forces. CoCo66 will offer chocolate-infused cocktails, chocolate paired with liquors and, perhaps, s'mores in the soon-to-be-functional fireplace.

S'mores? Do you really want drunkards flinging skewers of flaming marshmallow willy-nilly, I ask.

"I never thought about that," Shillitto says, pondering the calamitous potential of fiery marshmallow and molten chocolate. "Not all my ideas are good," he admits with a smile. Some ideas are better-like Skee-Ball! Yet this one is also proving problematic.

"I called up a Skee-Ball distributor and told them I wanted two machines," he says.

"They're not for bars. You don't want them," came the reply.

"Yes, I do," said Shillitto. He envisioned Skee-Ball as a centerpiece, with game tickets redeemable for prizes like, oh, dried fish.

"No, you don't."

"Yes, yes I do."

And back and forth, forth and back, until, finally, the vendors relented. The machines will be delivered any day. They will be placed side by side, in what is surely the first nook explicitly built for drunken Skee-Ball. Jesus-Skee-Ball, chocolate, booze: CoCo66 is hitting an addiction home run. If the bar served a little sustenance, I'd never leave. For these reasons-and more-CoCo66 has the trappings of a fine, long-running Greenpoint fixture.

Here, DJs serve as background music, not party-starters. Bartenders are friendly locals serving Bud bottles and Yuengling drafts priced to guzzle at $3. Mixed drinks and other tap beers run about $5 ($1 off during happy hour). And judging by the first month, CoCo66 is less a hipster salt lick and more a cool oasis for still-with-it professionals downing their post-work medication. For this, I am thankful. Greenpoint's gentrification is as inevitable as tomorrow's sunrise, yet, as seen by Coco66, progress need not be grotesque.