Head chef - André Münch

André Münch comes from the Ruhr valley in North Rhine-Westphalia and was born in 1977 in Castrop-Rauxel.

Münch describes his learning to cook as "the best thing that could ever have happened to me".

His first experiences of the creativity involved with this job came when he was a child. He made scrambled eggs for breakfast on Sundays for everybody, but each time it had to be a slightly different variation. It was a great achievement for the young André Münch. His mother, a businesswoman who also cooked every day, admires him still today for the way in which he "cooked like a world champion".

Münch trained under the tutelage of another Michelin-starred chef, Holger Stromberg, at his Goldschmieding restaurant in Castrop-Rauxel. This was followed by various other positions

• Patissier at the "First Floor" restaurant at the Palace hotel in Berlin under Rolf Schmidt, who has two Michelin stars.
• Patissier and entremetier at the "First Floor" restaurant at the Palace hotel in Berlin under Mathias Buchholz (one Michelin star).
• Tournant at "Gutshaus Stolpe" under Stefan Frank (one Michelin star, and who currently works at Le Croy in Greifswald).
• Poissonier at "Im Schiffchen & Aalschocker" in Düsseldorf under Jean-Claude Bourgueil, who has three Michelin stars.
• Head chef at "L'escalier" in Cologne with Ralf Bey, who has one Michelin star.

Since 2007, André Münch has been head chef at the gourmet restaurant here at Gutshaus Stolpe and is responsible for all the cuisine here. The cuisine here at the gourmet restaurant at Gutshaus Stolpe has been already been awarded a Michelin star since 2008. This distinction was confirmed in 2009. In 2009, Münch also acquired a game licence for hunting and shooting and has, since then, managed the hunting grounds of the hotel together with our gamekeeper.

Münch draws on his own experiences for tips on feeding children: "I never had to eat anything that I didn't want to - and that was a fair bit! It's much more important with children to ensure that they don't eat too unhealthily, rather than force them to eat healthily. I'm certain that there are children now like I was back then: As I grew up, I opened up to new taste sensations, whose diversity I learned to appreciate - and I ate a lot, that I, as a child, wouldn't have touched".

Münch believes that joint mealtimes are an important contribution to a feeling of togetherness and belonging within families. He experienced this as a child, and continues this tradition to this day with his own family.

André Münch lives in Stolpe.