Base Woodfired Pizza's Homebase in Shirley is the family's dedicated home on the east side of Christchurch, at 199 Marshlands Road. It's a simple idea done properly: authentic woodfired pizzas, baked over real wood in ovens the family builds themselves, available for dine in, pickup and delivery. Doors open from 11am Sunday through Thursday, and from 11am until late on Friday and Saturday, with Christmas Day the one day the ovens go cold.
Base is a genuine Christchurch family business, created in late 2010 by Chris, Andy, Gill and Rod Thomson. It began around the family's own woodfired oven at home, where weekends of trial-and-error flavour combinations turned into a neighbourhood ritual — and when the September earthquake knocked out the power, cooking for their neighbours planted the seed for the business. From a mobile oven at Canterbury events and festivals, to a custom-fitted shipping container in the Re:Start mall with an Italian wood-burning oven and bricks recycled from demolished buildings, Base grew into one of the city's best-known pizza names.
Flavour is the stated obsession. The custom Thomson & Sons woodfired ovens, built by co-founder Rod Thomson himself, are described by the team as the secret behind the flavour and consistency of Base Pizza — and visitors are encouraged to check them out in store. Ingredients are fresh and locally sourced, supporting other Canterbury businesses with what Base calls simply the best New Zealand has to offer. The menu runs from the classic margherita to the infamous Sir George, and the family's focus remains what it has always been: flavour, family and fun.
Base Woodfired Pizza has been part of Christchurch life since 2010, and its Homebase at 199 Marshlands Road in Shirley brings the family's woodfired tradition to the eastern suburbs. The proposition is straightforward and done well: real pizzas baked over wood in ovens the family builds themselves, served for dine in, pickup and delivery. Doors open from 11am Sunday through Thursday, and from 11am until late on Friday and Saturday.
Base began at home, not in a boardroom. Chris, Andy, Gill and Rod Thomson spent their time gathered around their own woodfired oven, trying out different flavour combinations until they felt they had them right. It became a social event, with neighbours often joining in to share freshly baked pizzas. When the September earthquake hit and the power went out, the family found themselves cooking in their woodfired oven for all their neighbours — and that, they say, is when the business idea was born.
From there came a mobile woodfired oven concept, well received at events and festivals all over Canterbury, followed by a spot in the Re:Start mall food court in May of 2010 after a conversation with then-manager Paul Lonsdale. The mobile unit eventually gave way to a custom-fitted 10-foot high cube shipping container, its centrepiece a large wood-burning pizza oven imported from Italy, its walls lined with bricks recycled from demolished Christchurch buildings — a nod to the city of old and a symbol of hope for the new one. When Re:Start came to an end, the family became a pivotal part of Little High Eatery, and today Base operates several Christchurch locations, with Homebase Shirley as its dedicated home in the east. Through it all, Base has stayed family owned, with a focus on flavour, family and fun.
Ask anyone at Base what makes the pizza taste the way it does, and the answer comes back to the ovens. They are custom-made by head honcho Rod Thomson under the Thomson & Sons name — the same hands that have shaped the business since day one. The team describes these woodfired ovens as the secret behind the flavour and consistency of Base Pizza, and makes a point of telling visitors to check them out when in store. At Homebase you can watch your pizza go in and come out, blistered at the edges.
The ingredients get the same care. Everything is fresh and locally sourced, which lets Base support other Canterbury businesses with what it calls simply the best New Zealand has to offer.
The menu runs from the classics to the adventurous. The margherita is the benchmark — a simple test of dough, sauce and fire that Base has had well over a decade to perfect. For something with more going on, there's the Sir George, the adventurous pizza the site itself describes as infamous. The Mushroom & Feta is another standout, photographed fresh out of the woodfired oven on the family's own homepage.
Beyond the counter, Base takes its show on the road. Catering and events are handled through the mobile Base Food by Fire trucks, carrying the woodfired setup to occasions across Canterbury, and gift cards are available online if you'd rather let someone pick their own favourite.
Homebase Shirley keeps things easy. Dine in, order for pickup, or get delivery when the night calls for it. Hours run 11am to 9pm Sunday to Thursday, with the kitchen open late on Friday and Saturday — handy for a weekend feed. Christmas Day is the one day the ovens go cold.
Online ordering for Homebase is on its way, so for now the quickest routes are walking in, phoning 0508 BASE4U, or emailing [email protected]. Feeding a crowd? The events team can bring the trucks to you.
More than a decade after four family members started cooking for their neighbours, that's still the whole idea at Homebase — good pizzas, made properly, shared with the people around you.