A mountainscape mural and symbolic wall paintings commissioned from Tibetan Buddhist monk artisans adorn Base Camp Restaurant in the former Fresh Forage in Scio Twp. Like the name, they reference owner Tasi Sherpa’s first career as a professional mountaineer: He worked on expeditions that included seven trips to the summit of Mt. Everest.
Both a surname and an ethnic group native to the Himalayan regions in Nepal and Tibet, “sherpa” has also become a generic term for mountaineering professionals. Tasi Sherpa is all three, or was until his late thirties, when he found climbing “getting more and more difficult,” he says. “Climbing tourism is good when you’re young, but when you have family and everybody, it’s not that safe.”
Emigrating to the U.S. through a friendship connection, Sherpa developed skills more suitable for a husband and father, he explains with a calm, understated manner. At Base Camp, he’s serving up savory dishes from his homeland.
Items like tikka masala, makhani, and biryani will be familiar to those who’ve experienced Indian cuisine. More characteristic Tibetan and Bhutanese examples include the shyakpa, a Sherpa stew with handmade dumplings, and thukpa, a vegetable noodle soup. Both come with a choice of chicken, lamb, or vegetarian broth. For appetizers, Sherpa points to the momo, steamed or fried dumplings stuffed with vegetables or chicken, served with housemade sauce or as a soup.
“The weather in Ann Arbor is colder than [Everest] Camp Four during the winter,” he laughs. “Some of the Himalayan food, like the stews and the thukpa and any of those curries, might be really good for keeping warm.”
Base Camp Restaurant, 5060 Jackson Rd. (734) 882–2882. Tues.–Sun. 11 a.m.–3 p.m. & 5 p.m.–9 p.m. Closed Mon. basecampa2.com