Brunchfield Café closed less than a week ago and the restaurant is
already reopening today with a new name and new ownership. While Clocktower Café,
751 S. Durkin Dr., will retain some of Brunchfield’s signature dishes, the new café
will have more of a focus on traditional American classics than the Cajun-inspired
food for which Brunchfield was known.
New owners Neti Nuhiji and his father, Adam Nuhiji, recently
relocated to Springfield from Wisconsin, where the family also worked in the restaurant
industry. “A friend of ours knew the owner (of Brunchfield), Mark Pettyjohn; we
found out it was up for sale and we went for it,” Neti Nuhiji said. “We’ve had
restaurants in the past, and we know all about the business.”
Brunchfield Café opened in October 2020 after Pettyjohn, the property owner, found himself with a vacant restaurant following the closure of Nico’s Homestyle Restaurant in March of that year shortly after the statewide ban on indoor dining took effect. Howard Seidel had recently retired after more than four decades in the food service industry and agreed to serve as the chef. Eric Naughton, who worked for Pettyjohn’s other business, Retirement Peace Project, became the manager of the restaurant.
In a Dec. 27 Facebook post, Naughton outlined the changes that led to the three partners’ decision to close the restaurant, noting that he has been working seven days a week since it opened. “I’m already maxed out, and with a baby due soon, the limited energy and time I currently have available for a restaurant won’t exist next year. It’s a bittersweet feeling with the added solace in closing on our own terms, rather than from failure or lack of effort,” Naughton wrote.
Nuhiji said his move to Springfield was also motivated by a desire
to be closer to family, as his sister and her husband, Buka Nuhiji and Jack Ahmedi,
recently moved here from Florida and purchased the former Jungle Jim’s property
on Peoria Road. They are in the process of renovations and plan to open
Fairgrounds Café by the end of January.
Nuhiji said
there will be a different chef’s special every day, along with senior specials
for customers 65 and older. There will also be a soup of the day, and Nuhiji
said, “We will keep the famous gumbo yaya; chef Howard will come every week to
make it for us and keep that tradition going.”
The Reuben
with egg salad is also staying on the menu. “That’s a big seller, and people
really like it,” Nuhiji said. “But the menu overall is going to be a little
different; we’re getting away from the Cajun and going with more traditional.”
While some
painting and interior remodeling is planned for the future, Nuhiji said the initial
goal was to reopen the restaurant quickly. “We didn’t want to keep it closed for
a long time. We wanted to open as fast as possible so the customers had somewhere
to go eat.”
Hours of
operation will be 7 a.m.-3 p.m., seven days a week.
