Chef Sebastien Pourrat’s life’s work in the culinary world now brings him to Malibu with Casita Basqueria.
The store, which is located in Surf Canyon — a small shopping center next to the Malibu Country Mart — holds specialty Spanish foods and carefully curated home goods. It was born from the sense of identity that the French area of the Basque country shares with Californian culture.
“Food is major,” Pourrat said. “Food is what defines people and where I come from, it is like a religion almost.”
The Beginnings
Pourrat started his journey in the culinary world in 2012 when he opened Cocotte, a French-Basque restaurant in New York. He was one of the first people to introduce Basque flavors to the metropolis of New York, but it took time to get people behind it, he said.
“At the time when I opened the restaurant, Basque was not known at all in the U.S.,” Pourrat said. “I had to build trust with my customers so they would come back.”
Both Cocotte and Basque food became a growing success. He described New York as the “mecca” of Basque food nowadays.
“American people would come in and ask what a txuleta or a txipiron was,” Pourrat said. “And at the end, they would come asking for them.”
In Basque, the letters “tx” are used to replace sound of “ch,” and customers became so familiar that they started using the correct pronunciation, Pourrat said.
He defines his approach to cooking in four principles: “top-tier ingredients,” “bold tastes,” “consistency” and “warm hospitality,” according to the store’s website.
After the pandemic, Pourrat and his wife became interested with the idea of moving to California, a state that offered a similar identity to his home town — good surf, sunny days and beautiful outdoors.
Cocotte closed down in 2020, and the two moved to California.
Pourrat’s Journey to Malibu
Pourrat developed a concept that propelled their move from coast to coast: Basque country meets California.
“We came to L.A. and started doing events where I used my Basque salt,” Pourrat said. “One thing led to another, and I did a dinner in Malibu and people started asking about the salt.”
Pourrat started selling his Espelette salt at a farm in Malibu, and people became increasingly interested in the product.
Espellete pepper, Pourrat’s favorite Basque ingredient, is only sourced in Espellete, a French-Basque town. It is commonly referred to as the “red gold,” Pourrat said.
“I was driving almost every day to Malibu to deliver salt,” Pourrat said. “People started to know me for that and my events and little by little, I started to feel a match between my concept and Malibu.”
His concept is focused on the strong Hispanic influence that both places share — Spain in the Basque Country and Mexico in California.
“California, for me, is a taqueria,” Pourrat said. “The influence feels more Mexican than American at times.”
When it came time to picking a name, Pourrat said he wanted it to highlight the cultural influences that his concept encompassed: Basque food in California.
“I wanted the name to have Basque in it so people understood what it was about,” Pourrat said. “So for me, Basqueria made sense between the Basque and the tacos.”
Casita Basqueria was born.
The Store
Even though Pourrat dedicated some years of his life to studying and acting, he was always taken back to food. Cooking became an important aspect of his life very early on, given the influence from his family generations back.
“My grandparents were farmers,” Pourrat said. “I grew up with real products and a real approach to what food is.”
The store is Spanish in nature, carrying a wide array of carefully curated Spanish items. Spanish food is the soul of the concept and therefore the store, Pourrat said.
Casita Basqueria prides itself on the quality of their ingredients and home goods.
“With this little shop, I want it to be a dealership,” Pourrat said. “When people come in, I want them to know that everything is organic, very well sourced and the best of the best.”
Throughout the years, he was able to build trust with his customers in New York, and hopes to create the same with his customers in Malibu.
“Even if they don’t know what something is, maybe they will give it a try because they trust,” Pourrat said. “People are discovering some stuff they wouldn’t buy anywhere else.”
Malibu locals enjoy how Pourrat’s concept blends with the community at Surf Canyon. The store makes people expand their horizons culturally and gastronomically, customer Monica Rever said.
“I have been living in Malibu my entire life and love the freshness of the store,” Rever said. “It fits right in with the other stores, yet proposes a culinary concept that is not known by most.”
Next Steps
Pourrat and his wife, Sofie Roelens, who works alongside him as Casita Basqueria’s creative director, said they are looking forward to their projects for 2025.
“I’m working closely with my wife, who is the magic behind all of this,” Pourrat said. “We’re going to step up the game.”
This comes after a successful year for the store and great demand for Pourrat’s private dinner events, burnt Basque cheesecake and famous sandwiches.
“I came up with the sandwiches as an ice breaker for the community right when we opened,” Pourrat said. “After two weeks, someone had asked if I was the guy from NextDoor.”
After someone posted about the sandwiches on NextDoor — an app where neighbors connect through recommendations — people started commuting from different places in California in search of the sandwiches.
“After the article, we had people from Santa Monica driving here,” Pourrat said. “Then it went viral on Instagram, and then TikTok.”
The sandwich has become a staple of Casita Basqueria.
“My friend told me about the best sandwiches he’d ever had,” Junior Chase Landis said. “I tried them, and he was right, so I recommended it to my friends, and I know they have been recommending them to their friends.”
The most enjoyable part of the job, Pourrat said, is the conversations that arise with customers about the sandwiches and their ingredients. They introduce new flavors in an American classic dish, like the sandwich.
“It is a small production, but it brings a connection with people,” Pourrat said. “What I am doing is about community.”
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Contact Karla Suzuki via email: karla.suzuki@pepperdine.edu
