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Originally an engineer, having grown up in Barcelona, Spain, Samuel Cots Trevino has always had a passion for cooking given the region’s rich culinary history and famous dishes such as bomba tapas and seafood paellas.
Now, together with his wife, Irene Cots Trevino, Samuel is slowly stepping into running his own restaurant after more than a decade managing other kitchens.
The Chronicle met with Samuel and Irene on Tuesday, 22, to learn more about the new business and their plans for the future.
Located in downtown Centralia at the former location of Boccata, the couple are currently operating Ox Centralia, a catering business featuring Spanish cuisine.
Their goal is to grow the business and finish remodeling the location to use as a rentable catering event center, and eventually a dine-in restaurant with a “speakeasy”-style bar.
Bringing traditional Spanish cuisine to downtown Centralia isn’t all Samuel hopes to do.
“I love teaching people about not just the food, but the culture, and especially the relationship side of it,” Samuel said.
While in America meals are typically served with most courses at the same time and consumed quickly, in Spain, meals are more communal and family oriented, spread out over multiple courses.
“There’s jokes about Spanish culture. We like taking two-hour siestas. It’s laid back and we don’t do that much, but the main goal for us is to live life,” Samuel said. “To sit down, relax, eat and drink and spend time with your family and friends … It’s more about the experience itself. For us in Spain, everything starts and ends at the dinner table.”
Samuel acquired his chef skills at the Michelin-recognized Hofmann Culinary School of Barcelona in 2014, and after working at the famous Restaurant Follia and L’Olivera, both in Barcelona, Samuel and Irene decided to move back to the U.S. in 2016, settling in California where Irene was originally from.
There, Samuel worked as an executive chef for various corporate restaurants through Evolution Hospitality. By 2022, the couple, together with their four children ages 5 through 11, moved up to Centralia.
Why Centralia? Because they already had a connection in the area.
“We met the Althausers when they did a volunteer trip at the center I was directing in Barcelona over a decade ago. We kept in touch, visited with them, and at some point, they got into the restaurant business with The Juice Box,” Irene said.
Knowing Samuel had already been working as an executive chef, they reached out to him to cook for them, and now, Samuel is branching out on his own.
“Their vision for Centralia was really life-giving for our family, to see this up-and-coming area that is giving open doors to families like ours that want to open a business and invest in somewhere that is still rooting for the little people,” Irene said. “We’ve met so many wonderful people here. Everything just lined up and all the right doors opened, so we took the plunge to come up here and give it a try.”
Aside from handling Ox Centralia’s financial management, social media and marketing, Irene also still works full time as the director of operations for Aztec Foreign Labor, Inc., helping local employers hire seasonal migrant workers.
As for fully opening Ox Centralia as a dine-in restaurant, there is no set timeline yet as they want to ensure the renovations they need are done fully and correctly. The current goal is to get the dining room area set up to host catering events and continue catering.
“We also want to do a speakeasy, but that’s going to take a while … So, event space first, and as soon as we can, open the restaurant,” Samuel said.
Irene added the goal is to have the catering event space open by next spring.
“It depends on how much revenue comes in. We’re trying to be careful in putting what we earn back into the business. So as we move forward we’re just reinvesting and trying to stay as debt-free as possible, being smart with our family-run business,” Irene said.
While they can’t host catering events at Ox Centralia’s location yet, 405 N. Tower Ave., they are hosting catering pop-up events to introduce the community to Spanish cuisine at other locations in the area.
The inaugural catering pop-up event is scheduled for this Saturday, July 26, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Centralia Square Annex, located at 208 Centralia College Blvd. in downtown Centralia.
For the inaugural event, titled Barcelonenta Tapas & Pours, Samuel will be cooking up a six-course meal including everything from traditional Spanish cured meats and fish, cheese, vegetable and seafood dishes and of course, tapas.
Oh, and don’t forget dessert, either, featuring a Catalan-stylee crème brûlée. Drink options, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, are included with the meal. Tickets are available online for $94.54 after taxes and fees.
“I’m going to be sampling around 30-something tapas, and then drinks and wine and beer are all included over three hours,” Samuel added.
For more information about the upcoming catering pop-up event including the full menu or to purchase tickets, visit https://tinyurl.com/muwsf2sh.
To learn more about Ox Centralia, or to get in contact with Sam and Irene about catering a future event, visit https://www.oxcentralia.com/ or follow the business on Facebook and Instagram.
