To try and decide each week where and what to eat around the basin can be a challenge — there are so many amazing choices. In this feature we’ll dive into dishes that will surely satisfy those hunger pangs and leave you wondering where to go next. 

Whenever you see something noted as a “signature” item, it usually comes with an expectation that it’s going to be good – maybe even exceptional — as it usually has to appeal to many different types of people to earn that designation. This week’s feature, listed on the menu as the “Base Camp,” absolutely delivers on that promise. 

This house favorite starts out from their proprietary pizza dough mixture delivered fresh daily from Truckee Sourdough Company. It’s topped with their blend of four cheeses (mozzarella, provolone, Fontina, and Parmesan), red sauce, their mixture of house-roasted peppers and onions, Portobello mushrooms, pepperoni, and Italian sausage. It might seem like a lot of ingredients, but everything blends together so seamlessly that you don’t even care. 

Let’s talk first about the four horseman of the cheese-pocalypse. If I had to be buried in cheese (which sounds amazing), these might be the combination I would choose. The mozzarella offers up milky and slightly tangy notes (along with great melting qualities), the provolone providing sharp and buttery punches, Fontina offering rich and creamy, then there’s the chameleon of Parmesan, which somehow has all of those qualities, but also punctuates with a bold saltiness. 

The rest of the toppings provide some of my favorite flavors for a pizza. Bouncing between earthy, sweet, and spicy, they run the taste gamut to perfection – especially the addition of Portobellos, which is a little different mushroom than you find on most pizzas. 

The ratio of all the ingredients, as well as the ration of pizza to crust, is about as on point as you can get. In each bite you want to try and get all the flavors together and when the main part of the pizza is done, you don’t want to be left with a huge chunk of crust. Mission accomplished on all fronts here – including the mission of putting it all in my belly. 

Base Camp Pizza Co. is located at 1001 Heavenly Village Way No. 25a in South Lake Tahoe. For menu and more information visit them online at basecamppizzaco.com or via phone at 530-544-2273.