Silver Gate, Montana
When I arrived in Cooke City I wasn’t really impressed with the service of the visitor’s centre. With such a small town I wanted to know of they had any restaurants that were particularly old or of significance to the community and they sent me 3 miles down the road to Silver Gate, home of the Log Cabin Cafe, which was celebrating 75 years.
I almost didn’t go because the ladies at the visitor’s centre didn’t seem very enthused about it, it simply satisfied my ‘old’ requirement. Although to be fair, it didn’t seem like they would get excited about anything, they certainly didn’t go out of their way to help me.
From the exterior The Log Cabin Cafe looks like many of the kitschy restaurants on my route and I wondered if I could find something decent to eat as I didn’t want a greasy spoon.
But this place is special.
They honour their long-standing tradition of using unprocessed and local ingredients like they did 75 years ago. They proudly state their commitment to buying local and organic listing their vendors with miles from the restaurant. They recycle (not something I’ve seen a lot of here) and use non-toxic cleaning supplies. They also donate 1% of all revenue to For the Planet.
This made not seem impressive if you live in a city or even a small town but Silver Gate was so remote I had no cell phone service and learned there was nowhere for Internet unless I wanted to rent a hotel room. It is not easy for them to serve social responsibility in these conditions.
It is a small but impressive menu. I wanted to order the bison burger but decided to go with the Rocky Mountain lake trout which has been a specialty since the beginning and is sustainably raised from Buhl, Idaho.
Disclosure: I was a guest of Visit Montana but they did not request I write a favourable review, in fact they had no idea I was heading here and I paid for the meal on my own. I give begrudging thanks to the Cooke City visitor’s centre even though I know they were annoyed someone came in and made them actually work.
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I'm Ayngelina and in my mid-thirties. I left an amazing job, boyfriend, apartment and friends to find inspiration in Latin America. I'm creating a new life choosing what I want instead of what other people think I should do.
I am also curious how the bison burger looks like!
Aww, Silver Lake! I lived in Billings for a few years growing up and everyone I knew had cabins there. Nice memories.
cynthia recently posted..Letters and Fancies, TGIF!!
I love whole grilled lake trout. There is a gorgeous little trout farm down in a town called Pemberton 4 hours south of Perth. The region is famous for its 500 year old “tingle” trees and is such a lovely place for a weekender.
Chompchomp recently posted..Returning to Rochelle Adonis for High tea
I am so proud of these people.
It’s one thing to do something responsible and loving like this when the “world” can see you, but out in the middle of nowhere? Brava!! I’m so glad you had the trout. I do love trout. 
The dish looks very impressive indeed. How does it taste? I bet, it was yummy
Agness (@Agnesstramp) recently posted..Photo Gallery: Sri Lanka- the Teardrop of India
mmmmm…that looks so good, but i love trout!!!
i can’t believe it but i actually want to check that place out!
jenjenk recently posted..Photo Friday: Greetings from Central California!
As a born and raised Michiganian I love lake fish, especially perch and whitefish. That lake trout looks good!!
Ashley of Ashley Abroad recently posted..5 Expressions to Help You Survive Paris
Log Cabin sounds like a pretty cool place after all.
Emily in Chile recently posted..Trinidad: a colonial gem
Trying this posting thing again (you know the lack of comments wasn’t because I didn’t enjoy your posts!). This looks like a cool place.
Natalie T. recently posted..NEAR: Buca
It’s definitely up your alley.