It was Hospitality Night in Ferndale in 1997 when the last incarnation of the Ivanhoe opened on Main Street. Barb and Dave Mogni would run the iconic restaurant and bar for more than two decades until Dave’s death in 2020. But the Ivanhoe Hotel, Restaurant and Saloon has been a landmark in the town since 1875, rebuilt twice after fires in 1875 and 1944, coming back each time to regulars waiting to take up seats at the redwood bar and dig into steaks in the dining room.
Now new owner Geoffrey Musselman is taking over the historic spot with plans to touch up the joint but keep its character and menu intact. Familiar faces in the kitchen are part of that plan. “I just hope we can make Barbara proud and make the people happy,” he says. “That’s all I really care about.”
While Musselman grew up in Arcata, he says he spent the last four decades working as a plumber in Southern California before retiring and returning to Humboldt County. His niece, a local realtor, pitched the idea of buying the Ivanhoe. “I’d only eaten there twice over the years,” he says, though he has family who were regulars. As this will also be his first foray into the restaurant and hospitality business, he says he’s grateful for the guidance he’s received.
“Barbara [Mogni] has been a huge help and she’s agreed to stay on for a few months to get everything started,” says Musselman, who’s planning to be on site running the business end of things. She’s also passed on the restaurant’s signature recipes, which will be prepared by Ivanhoe alumni. Jeff Dunker, who cooked there for two years before the restaurant closed, will be returning to the kitchen. “I’m thrilled about that because it’s huge to have somebody who knows how to cook the meals that people enjoyed before,” says Musselman.
Dunker, who most recently cooked at Campground, then at Salt, as chef, speaks enthusiastically about returning to the Ivanhoe as chef and kitchen manager, and again cooking from the well-loved menu. “People love the place. I love to eat in there so it doesn’t really need to change too much,” he says. He has missed the prime rib with au jus, himself. “I’m excited about getting that back,” he says.
Aside from a couple of additions, Musselman says, “We’re gonna keep it basically the same,” which includes the cacciatore and polenta, for those who might be concerned. Customers can expect the bar to open at 11 a.m. with lunch service, before the dining room opens at 4 p.m. Food, he says, will be available at the bar whenever it’s open, along with a new roster of mocktails. Musselman says despite not being a drinker, he recently attended bartending school in case he should ever need to fill in.
Like much of the rest of the building, the bar top is made from redwood, now revealed after stripping layers of paint. “It’s a nice lookin’ piece of wood,” says Musselman. Plans to remove wallpaper and carpeting, as well as adding a copper ceiling in the bar, will keep the old-fashioned feel, he says, while “lightening up” the rooms a bit. He’s also looking at improvements to the acoustics in the dining room, where it was known to get loud during busy times.
“We are going to open up the hotel again but it’s all going to be more modern,” says Musselman, noting the five rooms will have more of a “spa feel” than before.
First to open, though, will be the bar, says Musselman, hopefully in February, with the opening of the dining room to follow. He says he’s pleased to start a new adventure but also to bring back a gathering place that people tell him they’ve missed. “People want to come back.”
Jennifer Fumiko Cahill (she/her) is the arts and features editor at the Journal. Reach her at (707) 442-1400, extension 320, or jennifer@northcoastjournal.com. Follow her on Instagram @JFumikoCahill and on Bluesky @jfumikocahill.bsky.social.
This article appears in The Battle Over Bear River.
