refueling station

Forty strangers partake in a three-hour, chef-driven meal in an unlikely setting: a gas station in a Twin Cities suburb.

- JESS HOFFERT

I'm seated between the shelves holding beef jerky and Tylenol Extra Strength, staring at a bed of rice topped with a buttermilk-fried quail garnished with an orchid petal. We're gathered around communal tables inside a BP filling station in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, eager to dig in.

Night at the Gas Station, a pop-up five-course meal with nonalcoholic drink pairings, was dreamed up by Guatemalan chef Cristian De Leon and his crew. They run El Sazon Tacos and More out of the BP's minuscule kitchen. It's a space suited for prepping convenience store sandwiches-not glasses of purple horchata or slices of cornbread with jalapeño jam, charred cheese and watercress.