Basic Kneads Pizza: More Than Just The Basics

A few years ago, brothers Eric, Joel, and Reid Bakken took their monthly pizza night tradition to the street, launching Basic Kneads Pizza. It hasn't taken them long to be counted among Denver's best pizza spots. Not best pizza on a food truck, best pizza period. They outfitted their truck with a brick oven they built themselves, and fire it up to 800 degrees with locally trimmed hardwood and beetle-kill pine. The brothers eschew strict Neapolitan guidelines for D.O.C. pizza so that they can use local ingredients and experiment with toppings, and use the family dough recipe they've developed over the years, a mix of organic whole-wheat flour and refined Colorado flour (they also do a gluten-free crust). There are eight pies on the menu starting from basics (margherita, pepperoni, fennel sausage) to more extreme pies like their Sweet Thai Chili Chicken. They now have two other ovens (carts, technically) and are said to be planning a brick-and-mortar location.