Cooking as connection
Chef Friedrich “Fritz” Beloussow believes that hospitality is the act of making sure that effort is felt all the way to the table.
COOKING AS CONNECTION
When Michelin announced its arrival in New Zealand in 2025, it marked a defining moment for Fritz Beloussow, who had been Head Chef at Rātā, Queenstown, since 2024. From that point onwards, every service carried an even greater sense of purpose. The recognition that followed, a Michelin Star for Rāta in the inaugural New Zealand Guide in 2026, was never the goal in itself, but the result of years of consistency, creativity, leadership, and an unwavering commitment to excellence.
“For me, the Michelin Star was never about one person,” he says. “It was about believing in a shared vision, supporting each other every day, and never compromising on the standards we set for ourselves.”
To understand what that meant in practice, it helps to go back to the beginning.
Fritz grew up in Uzbekistan, then Germany, in a home where the doors were always open and every gathering revolved around the table. Food was about creating memories, bringing people together, making others feel welcome. He spent countless hours as a child watching his mother cook, absorbing the warmth that filled the kitchen. He didn’t know it then, but hospitality had been part of who he was all along.
The professional kitchen didn’t call him straight away. “For many years, I searched for my place in life,” he says. “At 25, I stepped into a professional kitchen, and I knew I had finally found what I’d been searching for – the environment, the people, the energy.” He trained in some of Germany’s most respected kitchens, building strong classical foundations before later joining the one-starred Restaurant Weinstock, where he further refined the precision and discipline of fine dining.
Then he came to New Zealand in 2022, “a country unlike any I had ever known”, he says, and with it, a complete shift in how he thought about food. In 2023, Fritz worked at Story on New Regent Street, alongside Shafeeq Ismail, building dishes shaped by a new curiosity: raw oysters with fresh strawberries, burnt capsicum with vanilla, pine needles with citrus. Foraging became part of his philosophy. “I never saw foraging as a trend,” he says. “For me, it’s a way of slowing down and paying attention.” Coastlines, forests, and changing seasons have become, in essence, an extension of his kitchen.
That philosophy travelled with him to Rātā, where he served as Head Chef from 2024 to 2026. There, his classical European foundation and his New Zealand-inspired approach to foraging came together fully. Reaching Michelin standards was about holding the vision every single day: mentoring the team and building a culture where each chef could grow individually while contributing to something greater.
Now Head Chef at Mudbrick on Waiheke Island – itself a Michelin One Star kitchen – Fritz brings the same passions to the role. Ask him what he values most about himself, and cooking barely rates a mention. Empathy, perseverance, and instinct to spot new opportunities top the list instead. Rather than treating local producers as suppliers, Fritz builds something closer to friendships: fishermen who know the ocean, farmers who care for every animal and crop, growers whose enthusiasm rubs off on him daily. As Fritz puts it, “Somehow, I feel this is only the beginning.”