Charlotte SCHWAB
Head sommelier : 1 restaurant A passionate restaurateur, Charlotte Schwab has made sommellerie her playground. Trained through prestigious experiences, she chose to follow her own path in Normandy, at Symbiose, where she has created a cellar that has already won her considerable recognition.
Born in Narbonne, France, Charlotte Schwab has been passionate about the restaurant business since the age of 16, when she spent seasons working in establishments in Provence. To deepen her skills, she took a refresher course at the Marseille hotel school, followed by a BTS in hotel and restaurant management and a diploma in sommellerie, which confirmed her vocation.
Discovering sommellerie
Beyond cooking, sommellerie intrigued her greatly: " I mystified this environment, I found it mysterious... and that made me want to take an interest in it and study it. "After graduating top of her class, she joined Christophe Bacquié's team, where she worked with David Piquet and Jonathan Pral, two sommelier chefs who greatly inspired her: " They passed on a lot to me. They shared their vision of wine and the profession with me, and I in turn pass it on. "
From experience to entrepreneurship
After several seasons in establishments such as La Réserve in Saint-Tropez and Hôtel Le Blizzard in Val d'Isère, Charlotte and her partner Charles-Antoine, whom they met at Christophe Bacquié's restaurant, decided to set up their own business. Normandy was the obvious choice. After a year of looking for premises and developing the concept, Symbiose was born.
Relationships with customers and winemakers
Charlotte Schwab describes the passion that drives her and her special relationship with customers: " It's a business that never settles down. Every year is a new vintage, and we're constantly learning. And that allows us to have unique relationships with our customers: at each table, we have different exchanges, and a thousand stories are told. That's not necessarily the case with the other people in the dining room. "
With her extensive address book and the close relationships she creates with winegrowers, she expands her menu, alternating between large houses and small producers. Her work was rewarded with the Sommellerie 2026 trophy at the Gault&Millau Tour Normandie. Since opening, the cellar has grown from 80 to over 350 references, reflecting the attention paid to discovering and showcasing wines.
Its restaurants
