Local chef Bill Hughes buys Campbell Club building, will re-open as private dining club

August 3, 2021 | 12:10 am

Updated August 3, 2021 | 10:02 am

Former Campbell Club building | File photo by AP Imagery

Bill Hughes — owner and chef at Eat @ Bill’s (commonly known as Bill’s Restaurant) — is buying the former Campbell Club building and opening a private dining club there. Hughes is set to close on the building in October and looks to open The Club @ Bill’s the first of next year. 

Eat @ Bill’s has been a staple in Owensboro for nearly a decade, and Hughes looks to preserve the dishes that brought him to fame while also exploring other culinary creations. He currently operates out of a kitchen and building that has been a locally owned and operated restaurant in Owensboro for more than a century. 

Located at 420 Frederica St. next to the Empress Theater, the restaurant has operated under several different names, perhaps most notably as Barney’s. Hughes remains undecided about what he wants to do with that location.

“I’ve thought a lot about this, and the idea of getting rid of it makes me sick; I’ll likely keep it and repurpose it,” he said. “I’m just uncertain on what I want to do.”

Hughes spent 10 years as a chef and general manager at the Campbell Club in the 1990s, during which time the club underwent significant transformations. He takes pride in revitalizing his Eat @ Bill’s location and hopes to continue to build on that success at the new club.

“I loved breathing air back into Barney’s and making it a thriving business — I look forward to doing the same thing with the club,” Hughes said. “I want to put my spin on what the Campbell Club was; I want it to have my personality while also maintaining the integrity of the building and its architecture.”

Hughes developed the idea during the pandemic when he had a lot of time on his hands. Because of the small dining facility, he was reluctant to open Bill’s until many restrictions were lifted and instead used the time to give Bill’s a deep clean and minor renovation.

“The genesis of the idea started during COVID. We were closed at Bill’s during that time, and I posted on Facebook that we would open again when ‘Bill’s could be Bill’s,’” Hughes said. “I was watching the NBA Championship (when they were playing in a ‘bubble’) in Orlando and saw how successful they were. I thought to myself, ‘I wish I had a ‘bubble’ over my restaurant to keep it safe and sound.”

Hughes said members of the club could expect special events in the form of wine tastings, special menu events, and occasional live music. The facility also boasts group venues perfect for Christmas parties, showers, business meetings, and more. 

The menu will feature “handcrafted, responsibly sourced, and craveable” food that ranges from exotic cuts of meat to impeccable seafood. Because Hughes also has a retail license, the club will also offer hard-to-find specialty food products and wine to their members in retail form.

“The world is so ‘small’ now that we can be creative in what we offer — we can source products from all over the world,” Hughes said. “We have great farm resources, and our wine distributors are as good as there are in the country.”

Memberships to the club will run $65/month, with a cap of 450 members. Hughes said he hopes to retain his current staff during the move while also creating additional employment opportunities. 

“We operate like a team, and I want to bring the same positive work environment from Bill’s to the club,” he said. “We have several longtime employees, and we will be looking for quality applicants within a variety of positions.”

According to the National Register of Historic Places, the home itself was built in 1880 by John S. Woolfolk, incorporator of the Peoples’ Wharf-Boat and Transfer Company. Hughes said that the previous owners would climb to the iconic bell tower to check the conditions of the Ohio River; that was well before commercial buildings obstructed the view.

The Campbell Club was formed in 1959 and played a pivotal role in protecting the home from being razed and replaced with a commercial building. The Club operated until 2017. 

“I’m super passionate about food … I learned to cook because I wanted to cook stuff I like to eat,” Hughes said. “The Campbell Club brought me here in 1989, and I plan to retire from The Club @ Bill’s at some point in the future.”

August 3, 2021 | 12:10 am

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