http://wcco.com/local/forepaughs.restaurant.haunted.2.887542.html

Finding Minnesota: Hip Restaurant May Be Haunted

Reporting

Angela Davis

ST. PAUL (WCCO) ― Forepaugh's Restaurant is hardly the new kid on the block. It has stood in St. Paul's Irvine Park neighborhood since 1870.



With help of a major remodeling project over the summer, the restaurant is one of the Twin Cities' newest, sassiest places to tip back your wine glass and have a fine meal.



Twin Cities restaurateur Bruce Taher dropped more than $1 million to make Forepaugh's fresh and current while still maintaining its Victorian charm. He hired an interior designer to help choose new wallpaper for all the rooms, revamp and replace the furniture, redo the floors, and even spruce up the light fixtures.



"They added more crystals and pulled it down so it is more of focal point for the room that overlooks the park," explained Forepaugh's general manager Kathy Gosiger.



And then there's the renovated kitchen, where Chef Donald Gonzalez works his magic with new American cuisine. He is clearly passionate about creating unusual dishes.



"It is like any new restaurant, you have to walk before you can run," said Donald Gonzalez, Forepaugh's executive chef. "But our goal is to actually start flying a little bit. We are going to walk, run and then fly. Whatever happens after that, just hold on. We are really pushing to make this something special."



There are nine dining rooms, each one unique -- especially the one inside the wine cellar, where the ceiling is made of copper.



The Forepaugh mansion is on the National Register of Historic Places. And even though it was built way back in 1870, you can still find some of the original features intact, such as the front doors or the elaborate staircase just inside the entrance.



But even with the flurry of new activity in this old mansion, you still get that if-only-these-walls-could-talk vibe.



"Houses were not taken care of. In 1974, there was a rebirth. There was a whole idea that this neighborhood could be salvaged. Houses were sold for a dollar, houses were sold with the condition people renovate them," said Forepaugh's marketing manager Greg Awada. "This neighborhood has experienced a Renaissance in the last 30 years that is quite remarkable."



There hangs a picture of Joseph Forepaugh that is the biggest reminder of the mansion's colorful past. He was a wealthy dry goods merchant in St. Paul. When he retired, he built the house for his wife and two kids.



Years later, Forepaugh committed suicide, and so did the woman believed to be his mistress. She was a maid named Molly.



"A lot of people believe there is a ghost that inhabits our third floor. But once again, that is just a story."



It is a story just as juicy as some of the cuisine here. Over the years, restaurant workers have shared stories of flickering lights, furniture mysteriously re-arranged overnight, cold chills and strange noises.



So whether you seek what's bright and shiny, or what's old and nostalgic, you will likely feel right at home here.