Prominently situated in the middle of Great Barrington’s Main Street, Fuel plays a central role not only as a coffeehouse, but also, on any given day, a popular meeting and remote working spot. This downtown mainstay just passed its first anniversary—on Valentine’s Day—under new ownership. And the still-new co-owners, Carol Keuma-Hipwell and Lydia Merkel, are just now emerging from an exceptionally frigid, icy winter and re-envisioning what their second busy season in town might look like.
Highlights of the owners’ inaugural annum include brightening up the high-ceilinged space, hosting a wedding event and other private functions, and holding monthly Coffee and Cannabis events, which raise money for The Last Prisoner Project to help support people jailed for low-level drug offenses.
Another successful benchmark: “We built up a great crew,” Keuma-Hipwell emphasizes. They’ve hired a new chef and expanded the seasonally rotating menu. (There are even St. Patrick’s Day specials.) And Fuel displays works by local artists, changing the exhibit monthly.
After securing a liquor license in November, the pair also experimented with a lively mix of evening-hour events over the winter—including Drag Bingo, karaoke nights, and DJ dance parties. But whether due to marketing challenges, the cold weather, or a combination of both, turnout wasn’t great.
“It was just so slow!” says Keuma-Hipwell.
“It was just a bad winter. There was ice everywhere,” adds Merkel.
Keuma-Hipwell was born and raised in Hawaii, but her husband Matthew is a South County local. She’s been working at Fuel since 2017, when the prior owners, Robin and Will Curletti, moved their café across Main Street from the original small space (presently home to Steam) to the far larger space vacated by Gypsy Joynt.
Merkel, for her part, only discovered the Berkshires in 2022, when she and her husband bought a second home in Otis. A year later, their realtor told them about Fuel going up for sale—and they jumped at the opportunity. She can only now turn her full attention to the business, having sold their Long Island house and closed on a new home in New Marlborough, which the couple is moving into this week.
Her current priority? With Keuma-Hipwell, Merkel plans to spend the spring figuring out how best to establish Fuel as an evening destination and downtown stand-out.
Luckily for long-time fans, some things haven’t changed. Busy customers can still find scratch muffins, scones, cookies, and other baked goods as well as grab-and-go sandwiches, with additional options. The same Ibarra Mexican chocolate is used for hot drinks, and the menu still includes the OG sandwich, “the Arlo,” a favorite of hardcore locals.
That continuity was a priority for Keuma-Hipwell. “I definitely tried to keep things on, like the McGuido. I felt strongly about keeping the balance between locals and tourists, making sure it’s the same place people are familiar with.” (In another meaningful carryover from the more recent past, Hazel Curletti, Robin and Will’s youngest daughter, is currently a barista at Fuel.) Merkel says of her own role, “We’re so happy to be part of the community, and to keep people employed.”
The partners’ primary goal for now is to expand the weekend hours starting in May to offer dinner and special events—spending the next month or so working out the scope of programming.
At this early stage, Merkel is still pondering the menu, while Keuma-Hipwell—who’s taking advantage of March’s relative quiet to visit family in Hawaii—is focusing on the different constituencies that populate the area in the summer and how to appeal to all of them.
In her mind, Fuel should be an affordable place for families to bring the kids. It could also offer something for all the camp counselors who come in on their days off to do—such as participating in open mic nights. “You know, how it used to feel with the Gypsy Joynt, that doesn’t just involve sitting at a bar,” Merkel suggests, adding that a more formal dinner situation, with table rather than counter service, is yet another possibility.
In the meantime, business continues to chug along at Fuel. Families drop in for breakfast before school or weekend activities, businesses hold informal meetings, employers conduct job interviews, writers write on laptops, chess players compete, and teachers teach one-on-one lessons. When the weather warms up, the area’s many dog owners convene at the outside tables.
Keuma-Hipwell and Merkel are happy to take public input for what they might feature for evening events this summer. “We always want feedback on ways to improve and on things people would like to see happen in town,” says Keuma-Hipwell. Musicians and anyone else with ideas are encouraged to reach out to gbfuel293@gmail.com.
Fuel is currently open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Sundays, but stay tuned for extended hours (fingers crossed)!
