To the south of Munich, near Chiemsee and the fairytale castle of Ludwig II of Bavaria, with the Alps as a magnificent backdrop, legendary cuisine awaits you at the "Residenz," where you can sample Heinz Winkler's fine game specialties enhanced by rare vintages.

Winkler admits to being ambitious … but as he says with a smile, "What cook does not get up each morning aiming for perfection?"

His striving has paid off over the course of an exceptional career. Winkler was the youngest cook ever to be awarded three Michelin stars, a distinction he has received 18 times to date. But going back to the 1980s, what really set him apart from his confrères was his invention of "cuisine vitale," a philosophy uniting gastronomy and well-being, and a concept that spread throughout the world with the emergence of spas and healthful cooking - a movement in which he can rightly be called a pioneer.

The basic tenet involves using the finest quality ingredients with a strong emphasis on herbs and aromatic plants. Winkler focused on what nature had to offer in its simplest form… not only as ingredients for his dazzling cuisine, but also for their powerful anti-aging properties and as a foundation for physical and spiritual well-being. This has become the credo of all his creations.

Green your gray matter!
While the role of plants in physical health is often emphasized, too often their place in good mental and spiritual health is neglected. But a healthy body means little without a healthy mind! Many plants seem to have the ability to fend off stress and depression, to treat psychological disorders, and so on. They contain active ingredients that have a direct biological effect on the body, gently rebalancing energies on the physical, mental and spiritual levels. With his strong kinship with nature, Heinz Winkler considers himself a deeply spiritual person. He believes that everything happens for a purpose - and that everything on earth grows for a cause. He calls it "the power of nourishment" and has made it his mission. As a cook, he seeks to bring out the flavor of each product to its best advantage, while working from the philosophy that only a balanced and natural diet can create a healthy happy person.

Practically no other restaurant celebrates savoir-vivre as much as the Residenz Heinz Winkler. Here, enjoying food while losing weight isn't a contradiction: instead, these two goals are perfectly complementary. You're entitled to indulge as you slim down! With his legendary Cuisine Vitale, Heinz Winkler creates delicious menus and herb-flavored dishes that can lead you to a beautiful - and lasting - figure.

And yet, Winkler is no ascetic. Having been a student of the legendary Paul Bocuse, he retains a love for classical French cuisine, working with black truffles, oysters and seafood, to name but a few. He is a devotee of the odd Italian Red and loves his south Tyrolean 'Speck.' And outside the kitchen he is said to be frequently seen in fast cars - but then again, it might be just a rumor…