About Us

The Story of Kemosabe at Silverheels Restaurant

We were born on a cold, wintery day on November 22nd, 1988 high on the flanks of Buffalo Mountain in Wildernest, Silverthorne, Colorado. Chef Bob Starekow, a graduate of the school of hard knocks with partners Mickey Smith and Jimmy Shields of the Snake River Saloon, was recruited to lead the kitchen. Me and my lovely wife, Marla with a crew of 20 converted the oldest building in Wildernest into a Spanish style wood frame hacienda with a tiny kitchen, a dining hall and four small fire-lit dining rooms.

The restaurant was named for a lovely dance hall girl called “Lady Silverheels” from Buckskin Joe, Colorado. She was much admired by the miners who frequented the towns many saloons.

In 1859, a severe smallpox epidemic hit the community, closing the mines. Lady Silverheels visited sickbeds from one camp to the next, giving aid and comfort to the desperately ill. Finally, she too fell to the dreaded disease. When many of the miners came to seek her out, they found that Lady Silverheels had vanished... No trace of her was ever found. The townspeople named a mountain in her honor. Mt. Silverheels, which rises 13,825 feet majestically from the valleys of South Park near Fairplay, Colorado, is a monument to the mysterious woman whose beauty and unselfishness saved so many lives. Her portrait hangs in our restaurant to this day.

We began operations with a menu of Southwest inspired dishes. Original recipes from that same menu remain with us still. Chicken Anasazi, Salmon Sonora, Filet Baja, Trout la Montaña, Sizzling Crab Empanadas and the Aztec Temple are all time tested excellent selections.

As time went by, new menu items, new employees and new partners came and went as we worked our way to profitability. We moved to this wonderful Frisco location, site of Golden Annie’s Plaza, when we heard the venerable restaurateurs, John Tuso & Susie Magrino were selling Golden Annie’s. We owe debts of gratitude to long time employees, Kaileen, Banzai, Suzanne, Jeff and past partners John Beaupre, Chris Miller and especially to Marla, the visionary, who we lost to cancer in 2010.

As one of our daily specials we began an exciting foray into rolling sushi and serving fresh sashimi from an old-fashioned iced vendors’ cart in the atrium just off the bar. It was a smashing success and quickly morphed into the opening of our sister restaurant, Kemosabe Sushi just across the fire-lit patio.

Now, Silverheels Bar & Grill and Kemosabe Sushi are among the most successful restaurants in Summit County, Colorado. We owe our success to following our mission…to create a quality restaurant business committed to the people of our community and to those whom we employ.

Enjoy your visit to Silverheels & Kemosabe and please, take the time to rate us on Facebook, Yelp or Travel Advisor. You’ll help others to find this wonderful small town experience.

Silverheels Purveyors

  • Lombardi Brothers - Silverheels meat purveyor since 1988. Vendor for all Bob’s restaurants since 1975
  • Seattle Fish Co - Our main seafood vendor for Silverheels and Kemosabe sushi