Christchurch steakhouse Bessie makes Michelin Guide after ‘getting the formula right’

Wednesday, 15 July 2026

Bessie Steak Restaurant head chef Paul Brash, whose team helped secure the Christchurch restaurant's place in the Michelin Guide Select.

When Bessie Steak Restaurant opened in Christchurch a decade ago, making it into one of the world’s most renowned restaurant guides “wasn’t even on the radar”, its owner says.

But after more than five years of “getting the formula right”, Bessie owner James Arnott is “stoked” his team has pulled off the extraordinary, becoming a Select entry in the prestigious Michelin Guide Select, which recently arrived in New Zealand.

Arnott said the accolade would not have been possible without head chef Paul Brash, who accepted the award at the Michelin gala in Auckland on June 30, and venue manager Leah Aird.

The dry-aged ribeye is the most popular dish, aged for 35 to 45 days in a temperature-controlled room on-site.

Arnott was 20 when he began working in hospitality in Dunedin. He and three university friends took on the lease of Captain Cook Tavern in 2004 - “and it’s kinda grown from there,” he said.

Cooks Brothers Hospitality grew to 15 venues at its peak before recently consolidating down to eight across Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland.

An offshoot of the business, Cook Brothers Construction, is led by David Bulling, one of the four friends who co-owned the Dunedin Tavern.

Beef dry-ageing in Bessie Steak Restaurant’s purpose-built ageing room.

Bessie was a leap for Arnott, offering a dining experience that went beyond the bars, pubs and restaurants he and his co-owners had opened, including Velvet Burger in Dunedin and Engineers Bar, above Bessie.

“We wanted to push ourselves and do something that would really stretch us. We saw that a premium steakhouse really was a way to push us.”

Inspired by a trip to a Sydney restaurant with a dry-aged meat room, “it was something we thought we could bring back to Christchurch”, he said.

Christchurch’s Bessie Steak Restaurant has been recognised as a Michelin Guide Select restaurant, a decade after opening in 2016.

“It fits really well in Christchurch. Christchurch has got very, very good beef and lamb.”

“It’s been a journey,” he said of opening Bessie in 2016, which takes its moniker from a popular cattle name throughout pop culture.

“It probably took us four to five years to get the formula right. It was a real struggle, especially the first three years. [Now] we can hang our hat on the consistency.”

The most popular dish is the dry-aged rib-eye on the bone, aged in a specially designed on-site room.

The meat is aged for 35 to 45 days, which Arnott said is right “on the money”. “We spent a lot of time testing and doing different scenarios, at that age there’s a good balance of flavour.

“Having a restaurant operating at that level was a personal goal of mine, and I’m really proud of what the team has been able to achieve.”