San Francisco restaurant Base Camp has Nepal journey on menu

It’s easily the most unique menu item in all of San Francisco: a trip to Nepal worth $ 2,000.

On the menu at Base Camp, a Nepalese restaurant in the Mission, the owner Suraksha Basnet Chow Mein (a typical “street food” in her country), Bara (spicy yellow lentil pancake), pork belly bhutuwa (which is not often found in other regional ones Kitchens of Nepal) and pakku (goat meat that is marinated in mustard oil and other spices for two days and then slowly cooked in a brass pot). The dishes reflect their experiences in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu.

She also offers another way to explore the sights and sounds of her home country: a journey with yourself as part of the group.

Basnet, now 32, grew up in eastern Nepal during the civil war from 1996 to 2006 when the Communist Party of Nepal worked to overthrow the monarchy that had ruled the country since 1768. “It was messy,” she said. “In the back of my mind, [me and] My friends, we all knew that sooner or later we would leave. “

She attended boarding school in Darjeeling, India, and eventually went to Kathmandu for high school and college. Her parents applied for asylum in the United States in 2012 when they were visiting Basnet’s sister to graduate from college in North Carolina. In November 2013, Basnet and the rest of her family, including her parents, settled in the East Bay.

After receiving her work visa two weeks after moving, Basnet began her American dining career as a bus driver at Skates on the Bay in Berkeley. After five years of hard work and saving money, she decided it was time to take a chance and open up her own place.

She opened Dancing Yak (280 Valencia St.) in 2018 and presented popular Nepalese dishes such as curries and momos (Nepalese dumplings) and opened Base Camp a year later to talk more about her experience in Kathmandu.

“I grew up near restaurants. Cooking is part of the culture for a Nepalese woman. But not in a bad way. We just learn how to cook from an early age and I’ve always enjoyed it, ”she says. “I think in the back of my mind I always knew that I wanted a restaurant.”

Base Camp’s menu highlights what she ate in Kathmandu – less curries, more small plates, which she often enjoyed in the cafes that inspired her second restaurant.

Owner Suraksha Basnet, pictured in the dining room of the Base Camp Restaurant on December 10, 2021 in San Francisco.

PATRICIA CHANG / Special to SFGATE

The inside is a little piece of Nepal. A traditional, hand-carved Buddha altar hangs on the back wall as the centerpiece. The meticulous craftsmanship can be seen from afar. Black and white photos of their country and people adorn the surrounding walls as well as other Nepalese art. Red tassels dangle from the ceiling, contrasting with the yellow blinds and pillows on the couches for the back tables.

Having both restaurants in the Mission has always been her first choice. “I felt like the people there would understand who I was and what I was trying to do,” she says. “I try to portray myself and my journey from ambience to food and everything else. I just feel very attached to the mission. “

The dining room at Base Camp Restaurant on December 10, 2021 in San Francisco.

PATRICIA CHANG / Special to SFGATE

“Every time I tell people I’m from Nepal, I feel like they are looking at me with a certain kind of love and respect,” she continues. “We are known for our hospitality. We are known for welcoming people. It just makes me strive to get better when I talk to others. “

Basnet now wants to show people this hospitality personally. So she added a trip to Nepal as one of the Base Camp dining options. And not a metaphorical one – a real expedition from real life.

The last time Basnet visited her home country in January and February of this year, she brought a large amount of Timmur, a spice widely used in Nepal but not often found in the US tourism industry; many of her friends work in the industry, and Basnet herself became a translator after college.

Owner Suraksha Basnet at Base Camp Restaurant on December 10, 2021 in San Francisco.

PATRICIA CHANG / Special to SFGATE

With her resources and connections at home – and without the help of a tourist company – she and her friends devised a plan to begin their own tourist adventure. They called it “Expedition Nepal”.

While Basnet does not direct the trip itself (as it does not have an active guide license), the expedition takes travelers to Kathmandu to explore the city as they experienced it, as well as a hike to the Khumbu Glacier at the base of Mount Everest. “It is important, that [my friends and I] do this because we know where to eat and where to have a drink, ”she explained. “And [when you are trekking near the Himalayas] We know how to take care of you, how to get used to the altitude, what pace you need and what to eat. “

While it was originally a creative way to help her friends come back from the worst of the pandemic, it now also helps her to connect to the lifestyle she was used to in Nepal: one of connecting with people, one of community.

“Here in a restaurant [in America] you come, you eat, you go, “she said. “What I’m trying to do in Base Camp with Expedition Nepal is different. I’m trying to establish a kind of connection because I’m used to that in Nepal. “

Decorations at the Base Camp Restaurant on December 10, 2021 in San Francisco.

PATRICIA CHANG / Special to SFGATE

Basnet was able to find her community in the East Bay, where many Nepalese families live in Richmond, El Sobrante and Pinole, she says. She has seen the number of Nepalese families on her street increase dramatically over the years. This is how immigrant communities work: Nobody knows who arrived first, but word of mouth is causing more and more people to show up.

But while Basnet feels at home in their Richmond community, some things will never be the way they were at home. “Coming here and working in a very fast-paced environment, a very competitive environment, makes me go,” she says. “But growing up in a country with a culture where you don’t rush is sometimes a little difficult to balance.”

April 18, 2022 cannot come soon enough for Basnet. Then the opening expedition begins. She strives to make lasting friendships. She expects these trekkers to return to base camp in San Francisco and become regulars of both the restaurant and the Nepalese lifestyle. At least that is their ultimate goal.

Framed photographs in the dining room of the Base Camp Restaurant on December 10, 2021 in San Francisco.

PATRICIA CHANG / Special to SFGATE

But most of all, she looks forward to returning home.

She is used to local faces. People wave to each other when they enter a restaurant. Everyone knows everyone, even the kitchen staff. She can’t wait to be enveloped in the warm hospitality of her people.

Despite the challenges Nepal has been through, Basnet looks forward to the serenity that their country brings. “What I sometimes miss most is sitting and doing nothing. It’s easy to ignore, ”she recalled. “Sometimes it feels like I’ll never catch up, no matter how hard I want.”