Gaëtan LACOSTE

Head sommelier : Le Gabriel - La Réserve Paris Hotel and Spa Born above his family's restaurant in the Basque Country, Gaëtan Lacoste worked his way up the ranks to become the director of Le Gabriel and the MRH Group's wine department, alongside Jérôme Banctel.

Presentation

Promoted to director of Le Gabriel and the sommelier program for the MRH Group in the spring of 2026, Gaëtan Lacoste had an exemplary career before joining Jérôme Banctel’s team. “I was born and raised in my parents’ restaurant, the Auberge du Foirail, in Saint-Palais, in the Basque hinterland. I lived above the restaurant, which my parents still run, by the way. Yet they never pushed me to follow in their footsteps .”

From Biarritz to Lasserre: The First Steps

The young middle schooler’s grades weren’t anything to write home about, so the future sommelier at Le Gabriel ultimately decided to enroll in the hotel management high school in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port while working part-time at the Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz. “It was a great time, between 2011 and 2014, working alongside Chef Jean-Marie Gautier. Then I wanted to explore the Parisian restaurant scene, so I joined Lasserre, working alongside Antoine Pétrus in the dining room, Claire Heitzler in pastry, and Christophe Moret in the kitchen. I learned a great deal at that restaurant, which was really on the rise at the time.”

Antoine Pétrus, a true mentor

Antoine Pétrus, who had arrived at the Clarence a few months earlier, soon invited him to join her at this beautiful establishment, which at the time had colossal resources. “ But it was like a gilded cage,” he recalls, “ because we were living in a parallel world, where the owner granted virtually every request we made .”

Le Gabriel: A Rebuilding Effort Led by Jérôme Banctel

At Le Gabriel, where Gaëtan Lacoste arrived in 2021, just as the pandemic was winding down, the restaurant was in the midst of a major restructuring, at the start of a new chapter that would propel Jérôme Banctel and the entire restaurant to new heights. “Even though Le Gabriel is obviously a prestigious restaurant, we’re committed to offering wines at almost every price point. I want to maintain a good balance between established favorites and up-and-coming winemakers. At our restaurant, you can order a glass of wine for less than €25 or a bottle for less than €100, which is unusual for a restaurant of this caliber .”