Aubergine

A hero ingredient at the pass

Since 2012, Maximilian Moser has held the kitchen as executive chef at Aubergine in Starnberg, inside Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten Starnberg. He builds each menu from a seasonal hero ingredient, working in the extension of the hotel rather than in the shadow of Munich. The restaurant earned its first Michelin star in November 2014 and held a star again in the 2024 Guide, its tenth consecutive starred year. Moser's lineage at this address is therefore less a tale of named masters than of tenure, repetition, and the pressure of keeping a small regional room sharp. He speaks of the whole brigade as part of that discipline, from dishwashers to service staff, and credits team trust, craftsmanship and creative input rather than a single hand. The place carries a longer Bavarian echo in its name, tied to Munich's original Aubergine, which pioneered high-end cooking in Bavaria from 1979, but this Starnberg restaurant has made its own case. The work here begins with season and decision: char from Starnberger See, venison, asparagus, game, bergamot, lobster, truffle, oyster. One protagonist, then the supporting cast.

Menus that turn every 4-6 weeks

The architecture is tasting-menu work, usually 5 or 7 courses, with omnivorous and vegetarian paths and gluten-free adaptations when the kitchen can shape them cleanly. Moser's method is not to scatter seasonality across the plate, but to give each menu a central point of gravity. Starnberger See Renke comes with creme fraiche, apple, and elderflower, a lake fish held against acidity, dairy, and blossom. Iberico pork has appeared with porcini, black garlic, and potatoes, a darker register that still keeps Bavarian ground under it. A whole bergamot dessert moves the close toward citrus rather than sugar alone. The kitchen changes its menus every 4-6 weeks, which gives the pass a rhythm closer to a workshop than a fixed repertory. From December 3, 2025, Aubergine plans to add a la carte alongside the tasting menus, a structural change meant to make room for shorter evenings without losing the long-form menu. The Michelin Guide's 2025 note gives the house 1 star for high quality cooking.

The room beside Lake Starnberg

The room is glass-paneled, set within the hotel's extension and turned toward Lake Starnberg. It is quiet by design, dignified rather than theatrical, with the formality of a fine-dining pass softened by the hotel's Bavarian steadiness. Plates arrive in a room built for attention: the counterwork remains out of sight, but the pacing tells on the table. A cheese selection can follow lobster; a dish named False Country Egg can sit near more classical luxury ingredients. Aubergine is not a vast dining room. Its smallness suits Moser's format, where each rotation has to be carried by the hands working that menu, and the greeting often comes from the chef himself.

A regional star held in place

Aubergine is a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Starnberg-Ammersee region and the wider Upper Bavarian Funfseenland south of Munich, and the region's only starred venue. That matters because the craft here is not using the hotel as a backdrop for city dining; it is making a precise regional address hold its own. Moser has said that if he ever felt a sense of satiety he would have to pack his knives. The next change is already named: a la carte begins on December 3, 2025, beside the 5- and 7-course menus at Aubergine.