Phoenix restaurateur Sam Fox is stepping away from Fox Restaurant Concepts seven years after selling the company to The Cheesecake Factory. He is shifting his focus to Author & Edit Hospitality, the Phoenix-based company behind The Global Ambassador hotel in Arcadia and The Twelve Thirty Club in Nashville.
“When I opened my first restaurant in Tucson, I was a college dropout taking a chance on something with no idea where it would lead,” says Fox, founder of Author & Edit Hospitality, in a statement. He started Fox Restaurant Concepts with Wildflower in 1998 and went on to develop brands including The Henry, Culinary Dropout and Flower Child. Over nearly three decades, Fox says, the group created 22 brands, opened 170 restaurants nationwide and built a team of more than 9,000 people.
Fox continued to lead the group from its Phoenix headquarters after the 2019 sale. The Cheesecake Factory paid $308 million at closing for Fox Restaurant Concepts and North Italia, with another $45 million due over four years and the potential for additional payments tied to restaurant performance. “When I sold Fox Restaurant Concepts seven years ago, I always knew there would come a time when the next generation of leaders would have the opportunity to build on what we created and make it their own,” Fox says.
The restaurant group’s local expansion continues with two Flower Child openings in the West Valley. The first is set for Nov. 17 at The Trailhead in Peoria, followed by a Dec. 8 opening at GSQ in Goodyear.
Fox entered the hotel business in December 2023 with the opening of The Global Ambassador, a 141-room property with restaurants, a spa and a private members club. The Phoenix hotel earned a MICHELIN Key in its first year and has retained it each year since, Fox says. “In a lot of ways, I feel like I’m starting all over again, only this time with nearly 30 years of experience behind me.”
“We will be growing our collection of hotels, and of course, there will be a few restaurants along the way,” Fox says. Author & Edit is working with Simon Property Group on a luxury hotel at Sagefield, a planned 100-acre development south of Nashville. The company is also bringing Chicago’s Au Cheval to Nashville with Hogsalt’s Brendan Sodikoff this fall, taking Théa Mediterranean Rooftop from The Global Ambassador to Dallas in early 2027 and opening a second Twelve Thirty Club in a former downtown Austin post office in late 2027.
