email this pagePatricia Kluge—the owner of the 1,800-acre Kluge Estate Winery and Vineyard—was so convinced that drivers deserved good food as they traveled through her area that she created a roadside eatery housed in a former gas station in Charlottesville, Va. Called Fuel Co., the restaurant features a sail-like canvas canopy soaring above the still-working gas pumps and hinting at the cutting-edge concept within. The interior is divided into the C-store, a convenience store and wine shop; the Café/Espresso Bar with gourmet eat-in or take-out fare; and the chic Bistro Bar.
Kluge lured Executive Chef Tim Hockett and Pastry Chef Serge Torres to Charlottesville where they found both “the good life” and farm-fresh ingredients. Torres uses fruit raised on the Kluge Estate for his preserves, pastries and homemade granola; Hockett sources some ingredients—farm-raised chickens and incredible ground beef and brown eggs—from Poly Face Farms in Staunton, Va.
“What’s great about being in a small town is that we can actually go out and hand-pick the produce,” Hockett explains. “In Chicago, you never actually see a farm or farmers; here, they drive up to the kitchen door, and we choose the best directly from their pickup trucks. Some farmers even stay and fuel up in front. Our new slogan is: Eat here, get gas!”
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