From the glitz of Avenue Princesse Grace to the grand halls of the hotel Bucharest’s Corinthia Hotel Corinthia Bucharest, Samuel (Samy) Trèves is taking the world-renowned Sass’ Café experience global. But for the Monaco native, expansion isn’t just about growth—it’s about preserving a legacy, staying true to the brand’s DNA, and ensuring that Monaco retains its rare, exclusive charm.
In an exclusive interview with Monaco Life, Trèves revealed his ambitious new direction for the Sass’ brand, starting with the recent opening of Sass’ Restaurant & Lounge in Romania’s capital. The venue is the centrepiece of a major partnership with the Corinthia Hotels group and marks the launch of Trèves’ new company, EYE Management, a F&B consulting company which oversees the entire food and beverage offering of the 30-suites luxury hotel.
“Together with my partners at EYE Management, Hugo Sanalitro and Shahar Dahan, we have been working on this project for almost two years,” said Trèves. “A friend bought this incredible historic building in Bucharest and brought it under the Corinthia umbrella. They approached us to take on the full F&B concept. Sass’ is a core part of that, but it’s much bigger—we’re handling everything from room service to the hotel’s main restaurant to the three dining and bar venues.”
The concept is a natural evolution for Trèves, who has long been intrigued by the hotel industry and saw an opportunity to weave Sass’ Café’s seductive, Monaco-rooted identity into an international hospitality framework. With Sass’ Restaurant & Lounge now welcoming guests in Bucharest, he’s setting the tone for a refined and distinctly Monegasque dining and nightlife experience abroad. But even as he goes global, Trèves insists Monaco remains his anchor.
“Whenever we host people there, we say, ‘Welcome to Monaco,’” he shared. “That’s what Sass’ is—warmth, elegance, great music, exceptional service. We’ve recreated that atmosphere in a completely different city. But the goal isn’t to replicate Monaco everywhere; it’s to share the spirit of Sass’ in the right places, with the right people.”
The Bucharest venue, designed by longtime Sass’ collaborators Tina Green and Pietro Mingarelli of G&M Design Gallery, retains all the visual drama and intimacy of the original. Rich textures, golden lighting, and a layout that merges a bar, restaurant, and discreet speakeasy into one flowing experience all evoke the familiar Sass‘ ambience. The menu is also faithful to its roots, with around 90% of the Monaco dishes carried over and a few subtle adjustments to suit local tastes.
“The Sass’ DNA is strong. We didn’t want to change too much,” Trèves explained. “But the team dynamic is just as important. We brought in staff from Monaco and AlUla, and paired them with amazing local talent. It’s always one international person with one Romanian—it’s a binomial system. That’s how we preserve the Sass’ culture while embracing local energy.”
Trèves has made a career of defying hospitality trends in favour of authenticity, a trait that continues to shape his vision for the future. The upcoming debut of Sass’ Café’s sister brand Cabana Sass’, a beachside restaurant concept set for southern Portugal this summer, further expands the brand’s reach. But it’s not about opening as many locations as possible—it’s about curating the right experiences in the right markets.
“Sass’ has never been about scale. It’s about offering something memorable,” he said. “We’re creating a more global, mobile team that can travel with the brand. We’re still a family business—just a bigger one now.”
Despite his international ambitions, Trèves remains firmly protective of Monaco’s unique hospitality landscape. While the Principality has long held its place as a beacon of luxury and exclusivity, what has changed, he notes, is the sheer number of venues now competing for attention. For Trèves, the strength of Monaco’s hospitality scene has always rested in its carefully curated, high-quality offering — and he warns that a potential future oversaturation of options could risk diluting the very appeal that makes the destination so special.
“Monaco isn’t London or Miami. It’s unique, and we need to protect that,” he said. “There’s a limit to how many places can succeed here. We have to preserve what we’ve built. Saturation would dilute the very thing that makes Monaco special.”
Now 46, Trèves has grown up in step with the city’s transformation. His father, Salvador Trèves, founded Sass’ Café in 1993, at a time when Monaco’s nightlife was little more than a local secret. Today, the Sass’ Café is an institution—a late-night meeting point for global tastemakers, royalty, and loyal residents alike.
Over the years, the venue has evolved, most recently with the removal of a long-standing wall that separated the club from the restaurant. Inspired by his travels, Trèves decided to unify the space, transforming it into a flowing lounge-restaurant hybrid that retains its intimate charm while embracing a more open concept.
“It was a big decision, but I felt it was time,” he said. “We can still close it off with curtains if we need to, but it’s one cohesive experience now—and the feedback has been amazing.”
Through each of these projects, whether in Monaco, Bucharest, or the Algarve, Trèves continues to refine what it means to be part of the Sass’ family—not just for patrons, but for the staff who help bring the vision to life.
“Hospitality is about people. Our staff are everything,” he said. “That’s why we move them around, give them opportunities to grow. They start as runners and become maître d’s. That kind of career path makes people stay, and it keeps our standards high.”
As Sass’ Café celebrates 32 years at the heart of Monaco’s dining and nightlife scene, Samy Trèves is steering the brand into a new era—one rooted in tradition, but with an eye on the world.
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